New research from the Dystonia Coalition (DC). This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology on June 18, 2025, titled "Genetic Diversity and Expanded Phenotypes in Dystonia: Insights From Large-Scale Exome Sequencing." 

Read the paper here. 

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Transcript: 

New research from the Dystonia Coalition (DC), a research group of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.

Exploring Genetic Diversity and Phenotypes in Dystonia.

This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology on June 18, 2025.

Dystonia is one of the most prevalent movement disorders, characterized by involuntary muscle contractions leading to abnormal postures and repetitive movements. Due to the broad spectrum of clinical manifestations and the increasing number of dystonia-linked genes, not much is known about the correlations between clinical manifestations and genetic variants.

In this study, researchers explored genetic diversity and phenotypes in dystonia. The team used exome sequencing among 1,924 genetically unsolved, mainly late-onset isolated dystonia patients to examine and analyze rare variants in genes previously linked to dystonia.

Results revealed 137 pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants across 51 genes in 163 patients. Authors note that the findings provide crucial insights into the relevance of genetic forms of dystonia and their corresponding phenotypes, aiding future variant interpretation and clinical diagnostics.