Evidence for mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood

Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectra of resting muscle were obtained from 4 patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood. All patients had abnormally high resonance intensities from inorganic phosphate and an abnormally law calculared cytosolic phosphorylation potential. Tow of the 4 patients had abnormally law resonance intensities from phosphocreatine and an abnormally high calculated cytosolic free adenosine diphosphare conecntration. These abnormalities are indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction. The combination of a central nervous system disorder and evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in muscle suggests that alternating hemiplegia of childhood may represent a previously unrecognized phenotype of mitochondrial disease.