What is Rett Syndrome?

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2009/04/05 - Updated: 2024/07/25
Publication Type: Informative
Category Topic: Pediatric Disabilities - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: Rett Syndrome is a progressive neurologic disease in girls characterized by normal birth and normal psychomotor development during the first six to 18 months of life. The hallmark of the disease is the loss of purposeful hand use and its replacement with repetitive, stereotyped hand movements. Screaming fits and inconsolable crying are common by age 18-24 months.

Introduction

Rett Syndrome alternate names: MECP2 Related Disorder, RTT, RTS.

Rett Syndrome, one of the MECP2 gene-related disorders, is a progressive neurologic disease in girls characterized by normal birth and normal psychomotor development during the first six to 18 months of life.

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has included Rett Syndrome as a Compassionate Allowance to expedite a disability claim.

Main Content

The girls enter a short period of developmental stagnation followed by rapid language and motor skills regression.

The hallmark of the disease is the loss of purposeful hand use and its replacement with repetitive, stereotyped hand movements. Screaming fits and inconsolable crying are common by age 18-24 months.

Additional characteristics include autistic features, panic-like attacks, bruxism (teeth grinding), episodic apnea and hyperpnea, gait ataxia and apraxia, tremors, and acquired microcephaly. After this period of rapid deterioration, the disease becomes relatively stable, though girls will likely develop dystonia and foot and hand deformities as they grow older.

Seizures occur in up to 90% of affected females.

Females with classic Rett syndrome typically survive into adulthood, but the incidence of sudden, unexplained death (which may be caused by cardiac arrhythmias) is significantly higher than in controls of similar age.

The diagnosis of Rett syndrome rests on clinical diagnostic criteria established for the syndrome and molecular testing of the MECP2 gene. Molecular genetic testing identifies MECP2 mutations in approximately 80% of females with Rett syndrome.

Currently, there is no cure for RTT. Management is mainly symptomatic, focusing on optimizing the individual's abilities and providing psychosocial support for the family.

Females with Rett syndrome may survive into adulthood but in a very dependent state.

The sudden, unexplained death incidence is significantly higher than in controls of similar age. It may partly be caused by the higher incidence of longer corrected QT intervals, T-wave abnormalities, and reduced heart rate variability.

Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.