POLG-related disorders comprise a continuum of overlapping phenotypes that were clinically defined before the molecular basis was known. POLG-related disorders can therefore be considered an overlapping spectrum of disease presenting from early childhood to late adulthood. The age of onset broadly correlates with the clinical phenotype. In individuals with early-onset disease (prior to age 12 years), liver involvement, feeding difficulties, seizures, hypotonia, and muscle weakness are the most common clinical features. This group has the worst prognosis. In the juvenile/adult-onset form (age 12-40 years), disease is typically characterized by peripheral neuropathy, ataxia, seizures, stroke-like episodes, and, in individuals with longer survival, progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO). This group generally has a better prognosis than the early-onset group. Late-onset disease (after age 40 years) is characterized by ptosis and PEO, with additional features such as peripheral neuropathy, ataxia, and muscle weakness. This group overall has the best prognosis.

CHMP2B frontotemporal dementia (CHMP2B-FTD) has been described in a single family from Denmark, in one individual with familial FTD from Belgium, and in one individual with FTD and no family history. It typically starts between ages 46 and 65 years with subtle personality changes and slowly progressive behavioral changes, dysexecutive syndrome, dyscalculia, and language disturbances. Disinhibition or loss of initiative is the most common presenting symptom. The disease progresses over a few years into profound dementia with extrapyramidal symptoms and mutism. Several individuals have developed an asymmetric akinetic rigid syndrome with arm and gait dystonia and pyramidal signs that may be related to treatment with neuroleptic drugs. Symptoms and disease course are highly variable. Disease duration may be as short as three years or longer than 20 years.

Focal cortical dysplasia type II (FCORD2), or focal cortical dysplasia of Taylor (FCDT), is a cerebral developmental malformation that results in a clinical phenotype of intractable epilepsy, usually requiring surgery. FCORD2 has been classified histologically into 2 subtypes: a type without balloon cells, known as type IIA, and a type with balloon cells, known as type IIB (Palmini et al., 2004). Affected individuals have refractory seizures, usually with onset in early childhood, and may have persistent intellectual disability. Most patients require neurosurgical resection of affected brain tissue to ameliorate seizure frequency and severity (summary by Moller et al., 2016).

A rare genetic neurological disorder with characteristics of pregnancy complicated by polyhydramnios, severe intractable epilepsy presenting in infancy, severe hypotonia, decreased muscle mass, global developmental delay, craniofacial dysmorphism (long face, large forehead, peaked eyebrows, broad nasal bridge, hypertelorism, large mouth with thick lips), and macrocephaly due to megalencephaly and hydrocephalus in most patients. Additional features that have been reported include cardiac anomalies like atrial septal defects, diabetes insipidus and nephrocalcinosis among others.

The spectrum of clinical manifestations of MAPT-related frontotemporal dementia (MAPT-FTD) has expanded from its original description of frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonian manifestations to include changes in behavior, motor function, memory, and/or language. A recent retrospective study suggested that the majority of affected individuals have either behavioral changes consistent with a diagnosis of behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) or, less commonly, a parkinsonian syndrome (i.e., progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome, or Parkinson disease). Fewer than 5% of people with MAPT-FTD have primary progressive aphasia or Alzheimer disease. Clinical presentation may differ between and within families with the same MAPT variant. MAPT-FTD is a progressive disorder that commonly ends with a relatively global dementia in which some affected individuals become mute. Progression of motor impairment in affected individuals results in some becoming chairbound and others bedbound. Mean disease duration is 9.3 (SD: 6.4) years but is individually variable and can be more than 30 years in some instances.