Mondo Description A new leukoencephalopathy, the CACH syndrome (Childhood Ataxia with Central nervous system Hypomyelination) or VWM (Vanishing White Matter) was identified on clinical and MRI criteria. Classically, this disease is characterized by (1) an onset between 2 and 5 years of age, with a cerebello-spastic syndrome exacerbated by episodes of fever or head trauma leading to death after 5 to 10 years of disease evolution, (2) a diffuse involvement of the white matter on cerebral MRI with a CSF-like signal intensity (cavitation), (3) a recessive autosomal mode of inheritance, (4) neuropathologic findings consistent with a cavitating orthochromatic leukodystrophy with increased number of oligodendrocytes with sometimes ``foamy'' aspect.

Uniprot Description A leukodystrophy that occurs mainly in children. Neurological signs include progressive cerebellar ataxia, spasticity, inconstant optic atrophy and relatively preserved mental abilities. The disease is chronic-progressive with, in most individuals, additional episodes of rapid deterioration following febrile infections or minor head trauma. While childhood onset is the most common form of the disorder, some severe forms are apparent at birth. A severe, early-onset form seen among the Cree and Chippewayan populations of Quebec and Manitoba is called Cree leukoencephalopathy. Milder forms may not become evident until adolescence or adulthood. Some females with milder forms of the disease who survive to adolescence exhibit ovarian dysfunction. This variant of the disorder is called ovarioleukodystrophy.

Disease Ontology Description A leukodystrophy characterized by variable neurologic features resulting from deficiency in astrocyte maturation, including progressive cerebellar ataxia, spasticity, and cognitive impairment associated with white matter lesions on brain imaging with onset from early infancy to adulthood that has material_basis_in homozygous or compound heterozygous mutation in any of the 5 genes encoding subunits of the translation initiation factor EIF2B: EIF2B1 on chromosome 12q24, EIF2B2 on chromosome 14q24, EIF2B3 on chromosome 1p34, EIF2B4 on chromosome 2p23, or EIF2B5 on chromosome 3q27.