Cockayne Syndrome

This will be a single-center, single-arm, non-interventional natural history study to evaluate the longitudinal clinical course, functional outcome measures, and candidate biomarkers for individuals with DNA repair disorders, including Cockayne syndrome (CS), xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), and trichothiodystrophy (TTD). Our hypothesis is that a reliable and reproducible baseline natural history course can be established for DNA repair disorders using the Early Childhood Assessment of Balance (ECAB) as a primary endpoint and other measures as secondary and exploratory endpoints that may be used in future therapeutic clinical trials.

CoRDS collects contact, sociodemographic and health information about participants. This information is entered into CoRDS and linked to a unique coded identifier. Below are some examples of information requested on the Questionnaire that will be entered into CoRDS: * Contact information: Name, Mailing Address, Phone Number, Email Address * Sociodemographic information: Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Sex, Gender, Ethnicity * Health information: Family History, Information related to Diagnosis De-identified information in CoRDS will be made available to researchers, if they have obtained approval for their research project from (1) the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the researcher's institution and (2) a panel of experts. A subset of de-identified information collected from each profile may be shared with certain other databases. This is done in order to help improve understanding of rare diseases, to avoid the duplication of efforts and to collaborate with existing research efforts with organizations dedicated to rare diseases. Participants may elect to have their information shared with patient advocacy groups (PAGs) representing individuals with rare or uncommon diseases who have partnered with CoRDS. The PAG will sign an agreement stating that they will not use the information for Research purposes. CoRDS personnel will not be held responsible for the use of information by the PAG. The CoRDS Registry will not be paid by Researchers, Other Patient Registries or Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) for access to information in CoRDS. If a parent/LAR consents on behalf of a minor, CoRDS will contact the participant when he or she reaches the age of 18 in order to obtain consent. If this consent is not obtained in a timely manner, the participant will be withdrawn from CoRDS. CoRDS contacts participants annually to confirm continued interest in participation in CoRDS, and to request that participants update the information they have provided.

Genetic white matter disorders (leukodystrophies) are estimated to have an incidence of approximately 1:7000 live births. In the past, patients with white matter disease of unknown cause evaluated by the investigator achieved a diagnosis in fewer than 46% of cases after extensive conventional clinical testing. Even when a diagnosis is achieved, the diagnosis takes an average of eight years and this "odyssey" results in testing charges to patients and insurers in excess of $8,000 on average per patient, including patients who never achieve a diagnosis at all. With next generation approaches such as whole exome sequencing, the diagnostic efficacy is closer to 70%, but approximately a third of individuals do not achieve a specific etiologic diagnosis. These diagnostic challenges represent an urgent and unresolved gap in knowledge and disease characterization, as obtaining a definitive diagnosis is of paramount importance for leukodystrophy patients. Moreover, the mechanisms of disease in many leukodystrophies of known cause are very poorly understood, with little known about the best symptomatic management and, thus, limited standards of care are available for the management of these patients. The purpose of this study is to: (Aim 1) Define novel homogeneous groups of patients with unclassified leukodystrophy and work toward finding the cause of these disorders; (Aim 2) assess the validity and utility of next-generation sequencing in the diagnosis of leukodystrophies; (Aim 3) establish disease mechanisms in selected known leukodystrophies; (Aim 4) track current care and natural history of these patients to define the longitudinal course and determinants of outcomes in these disorders; (Aim 5) contact subjects for future research studies and/or clinical programs. This biorepository will use available basic science and clinical research approaches to establish novel diagnoses, biomarkers, and outcome measures for future clinical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.