CASE REPORT article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Neurodevelopment
A pediatric patient with Warsaw breakage syndrome presenting with epilepsy: a case report and literature review
Yixuan Zhang 1
Jiao Xue 2
Zhi Yi 2
Ying Zhang 2
Zhenfeng Song 2
Chengqing Yang 2
Fei Li 2
Kaixuan Liu 2
Jiashuo Li 1
1. Qingdao University Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao, China
2. The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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Abstract
Background: Warsaw breakage syndrome (WABS) is a rare disease caused by mutations in the DDX11 gene. It is characterized by severe growth restriction, microcephaly, and sensorineural hearing loss, and reports of coexisting epilepsy are even rarer. There are no studies on the focused synthesis of epilepsy phenotypes in WABS. Methods: A clinical review is conducted for a patient diagnosed with WABS. And a comprehensive search is performed using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. We select only papers that report patients with Warsaw Breakage Syndrome and epilepsy. Results: We present a boy exhibiting the core manifestations of this syndrome. In addition to growth restriction, microcephaly, and sensorineural hearing loss, he has experienced recurrent epileptic seizures since 7 months of age. The child showed resistance to multiple antiepileptic drugs, with seizure types progressing from focal to epileptic spasms. Whole-exome sequencing identified two variants in the patient's DDX11 gene: c.2120delT (p.F707Sfs*60) and c.1949-3C>T (splicing). A literature review identified a total of 7 previously reported children with WABS complicated by epilepsy, and we collected and summarized their clinical and genetic information. Conclusion: We report a child with WABS whose main symptom was epilepsy. This case expands the known mutation spectrum of WABS and provides a comprehensive summary of clinical and genetic data for WABS patients presenting with epilepsy.
Summary
Keywords
Cohesinopathy, cranialmagnetic resonance imaging, DDX11, Epilepsy, Warsaw breakage syndrome
Received
02 December 2025
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Zhang, Xue, Yi, Zhang, Song, Yang, Li, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Jiao Xue
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