National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, a program of the National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences

Neuroferritinopathy



Other Names:
Ferritin-related neurodegeneration; Basal ganglia disease adult-onset
Categories:
This disease is grouped under:

Neuroferritinopathy is a movement disorder caused by the gradual accumulation of iron in the basal ganglia of the brain. People with neuroferritinopathy have progressive problems with movement that begin at about age 40. These movement problems can include involuntary jerking motions (chorea), rhythmic shaking (tremor), difficulty coordinating movements (ataxia), or uncontrolled tensing of muscles (dystonia). Symptoms of the disorder may be more prominent on one side of the body. Affected individuals may also have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) and speaking (dysarthria). Intelligence is generally unaffected, but some individuals develop a gradual decline in thinking and reasoning abilities (dementia). Personality changes such as reduced inhibitions and difficulty controlling emotions may also occur as the disorder progresses. Neuroferritinopathy is caused by mutations in the FTL gene. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion.[1]
Last updated: 9/24/2013

This table lists symptoms that people with this disease may have. For most diseases, symptoms will vary from person to person. People with the same disease may not have all the symptoms listed. This information comes from a database called the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) . The HPO collects information on symptoms that have been described in medical resources. The HPO is updated regularly. Use the HPO ID to access more in-depth information about a symptom.

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Medical Terms Other Names
Learn More:
HPO ID
80%-99% of people have these symptoms
Chorea 0002072
Spastic diplegia 0001264
30%-79% of people have these symptoms
Bradykinesia
Slow movements
Slowness of movements
[ more ]
0002067
Dysphonia
Inability to produce voice sounds
0001618
Dystonia 0001332
Gait disturbance
Abnormal gait
Abnormal walk
Impaired gait
[ more ]
0001288
Optic atrophy 0000648
Orofacial dyskinesia 0002310
Retinal degeneration
Retina degeneration
0000546
5%-29% of people have these symptoms
Abnormality of eye movement
Abnormal eye movement
Abnormal eye movements
Eye movement abnormalities
Eye movement issue
[ more ]
0000496
Ataxia 0001251
Behavioral abnormality
Behavioral changes
Behavioral disorders
Behavioral disturbances
Behavioral problems
Behavioral/psychiatric abnormalities
Behavioural/Psychiatric abnormality
Psychiatric disorders
Psychiatric disturbances
[ more ]
0000708
Constipation 0002019
Dementia
Dementia, progressive
Progressive dementia
[ more ]
0000726
Developmental regression
Loss of developmental milestones
Mental deterioration in childhood
[ more ]
0002376
Dysphagia
Poor swallowing
Swallowing difficulties
Swallowing difficulty
[ more ]
0002015
Hypotension
Low blood pressure
0002615
Intellectual disability
Mental deficiency
Mental retardation
Mental retardation, nonspecific
Mental-retardation
[ more ]
0001249
Language impairment 0002463
Parkinsonism 0001300
Percent of people who have these symptoms is not available through HPO
Abnormal cerebellum morphology
Abnormality of the cerebellum
Cerebellar abnormalities
Cerebellar abnormality
Cerebellar anomaly
[ more ]
0001317
Abnormality of metabolism/homeostasis
Laboratory abnormality
Metabolism abnormality
[ more ]
0001939
Anarthria
Loss of articulate speech
0002425
Autosomal dominant inheritance 0000006
Babinski sign 0003487
Blepharospasm
Eyelid spasm
Eyelid twitching
Involuntary closure of eyelid
Spontaneous closure of eyelid
[ more ]
0000643
Cavitation of the basal ganglia 0007007
Choreoathetosis 0001266
Decreased serum ferritin
Low ferritin level
Reduced serum ferritin
[ more ]
0012343
Disinhibition 0000734
Dysarthria
Difficulty articulating speech
0001260
Dyskinesia
Disorder of involuntary muscle movements
0100660
Emotional lability
Emotional instability
0000712
Hyperreflexia
Increased reflexes
0001347
Hypomimic face
Dull facial expression
0000338
Laryngeal dystonia 0012049
Micrographia 0031908
Mutism
Inability to speak
Muteness
[ more ]
0002300
Neurodegeneration
Ongoing loss of nerve cells
0002180
Progressive
Worsens with time
0003676
Rigidity
Muscle rigidity
0002063
Spasticity
Involuntary muscle stiffness, contraction, or spasm
0001257
Subcortical dementia 0007123
Tremor 0001337
Writer's cramp 0002356
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Last updated: 7/1/2020

Making a diagnosis for a genetic or rare disease can often be challenging. Healthcare professionals typically look at a person’s medical history, symptoms, physical exam, and laboratory test results in order to make a diagnosis. The following resources provide information relating to diagnosis and testing for this condition. If you have questions about getting a diagnosis, you should contact a healthcare professional.

Testing Resources

  • The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) provides information about the genetic tests for this condition. The intended audience for the GTR is health care providers and researchers. Patients and consumers with specific questions about a genetic test should contact a health care provider or a genetics professional.

If you need medical advice, you can look for doctors or other healthcare professionals who have experience with this disease. You may find these specialists through advocacy organizations, clinical trials, or articles published in medical journals. You may also want to contact a university or tertiary medical center in your area, because these centers tend to see more complex cases and have the latest technology and treatments.

If you can’t find a specialist in your local area, try contacting national or international specialists. They may be able to refer you to someone they know through conferences or research efforts. Some specialists may be willing to consult with you or your local doctors over the phone or by email if you can't travel to them for care.

You can find more tips in our guide, How to Find a Disease Specialist. We also encourage you to explore the rest of this page to find resources that can help you find specialists.

Healthcare Resources


Related diseases are conditions that have similar signs and symptoms. A health care provider may consider these conditions in the table below when making a diagnosis. Please note that the table may not include all the possible conditions related to this disease.

Conditions with similar signs and symptoms from Orphanet
Differential diagnoses include Huntington disease and spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 (see these terms), although neither has the characteristic findings on neuroimaging; choreoacanthocytosis and McLeod neuroacanthocytosis syndrome (see these terms), although, unlike in these two diseases, the reflexes are preserved in neuroferritinopathy, and juvenile-onset Parkinson disease, aceruloplasminemia and Neimann-Pick type C (see these terms), although these disorders do not show the characteristic neuroimaging of neuroferritinopathy. The MRI findings are similar to those found in pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN; see this term). Individuals with neuroferritinopathy also show the 'eye of the tiger'' sign.
Visit the Orphanet disease page for more information.

Support and advocacy groups can help you connect with other patients and families, and they can provide valuable services. Many develop patient-centered information and are the driving force behind research for better treatments and possible cures. They can direct you to research, resources, and services. Many organizations also have experts who serve as medical advisors or provide lists of doctors/clinics. Visit the group’s website or contact them to learn about the services they offer. Inclusion on this list is not an endorsement by GARD.

Organizations Supporting this Disease


These resources provide more information about this condition or associated symptoms. The in-depth resources contain medical and scientific language that may be hard to understand. You may want to review these resources with a medical professional.

Where to Start

In-Depth Information

  • GeneReviews provides current, expert-authored, peer-reviewed, full-text articles describing the application of genetic testing to the diagnosis, management, and genetic counseling of patients with specific inherited conditions.
  • The Monarch Initiative brings together data about this condition from humans and other species to help physicians and biomedical researchers. Monarch’s tools are designed to make it easier to compare the signs and symptoms (phenotypes) of different diseases and discover common features. This initiative is a collaboration between several academic institutions across the world and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Visit the website to explore the biology of this condition.
  • Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders. Each entry has a summary of related medical articles. It is meant for health care professionals and researchers. OMIM is maintained by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 
  • Orphanet is a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Access to this database is free of charge.
  • PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Neuroferritinopathy. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.

Questions sent to GARD may be posted here if the information could be helpful to others. We remove all identifying information when posting a question to protect your privacy. If you do not want your question posted, please let us know. Submit a new question

  • I was recently diagnosed with neuroferritinopathy. Should I be avoiding foods that are high in iron such as liver, black pudding, cabbage and broccoli? See answer



  1. Neuroferritinopathy. Genetics Home Reference (GHR). July 2008; http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=neuroferritinopathy. Accessed 9/24/2013.