Pediatric Huntington disease

Huntington disease is a fatal, autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder of adults that was most probably first described in 1841 by Charles Oscar Waters. However, the disorder was named after George Huntington who published a paper about this rare disorder in1872. During the 1960s, the rare occurrence of childhood and adolescent forms of Huntington disease was increasingly recognized and reports about it was published in English and other languages including French ,German, Italian and ,Serbian. Pediatric Huntington disease typically has different presentation when compared with adults. Early diagnosis and symptomatic treatment may contribute to enhancing the quality of life of affected patients. However, most clinicians are unaware that Huntington disease can present during childhood and adolescence, and the diagnosis can be delayed. Therefore, appropriate genetic counseling are commonly not witnessed. Pediatric Huntington disease has not been reported before in Iraq. The main aim of this book is to describe the first case of this disease in Iraq. The book also describes the early historic documentation of the syndrome in the literature.