Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis  is the general name for a family of at least eight genetically separate neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases that result from excessive accumulation of lipopigments (lipofuscin) in the bodys tissues. These lipopigments are made up of fats and proteins. Their name comes from the word stem "lipo-", which is a variation on lipid, and from the term "pigment", used because the substances take on a greenish-yellow color when viewed under an ultraviolet light microscope. These lipofuscin materials build up in neuronal cells and many organs, including the liver, spleen, myocardium, and kidneys. Signs and symptoms
The classic characterization of the group of neurodegenerative, lysosomal storage disorders called the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) is through the progressive, permanent loss of motor and psychological ability with a severe intracellular accumulation of lipofuscins, with the United States and Northern European populations having slightly higher frequency with an occurrence of one in 10,000. Four classic diagnoses have received the most attention from researchers and the medical field, differentiated from one another by age of symptomatic onset, duration, early-onset manifestations such as blindness or seizures, and the forms which lipofuscin accumulation takes.In the early infantile variant of NCL (also called INCL or Santavuori-Haltia), probands appear normal at birth, but early visual loss leading to complete retinal blindness by the age of 2 years is the first indicator of the disease; by 3 years of age, a vegetative state is reached, and by 4 years, isoelectric encephalograms confirm brain death.
Prognosis
Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy are relatively common and are often inherited with other neuromuscular conditions, and these comorbidities cause an accelerated progression of the disease.Most forms of HMSN affect males earlier and more severely than females, but others show no predilection to either sex. HMSN affects all ethnic groups, with the most common forms having no racial predilection, but other recessively inherited forms tending to impact specific ethnic groups. Onset of HMSN is most common in early childhood, with clinical effects occurring before the age of 10, but some symptoms are lifelong and progress slowly. Therefore, these symptoms do not appear until later in life. See also
Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy with proximal dominance
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease
Hereditary motor neuropathies
Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies
Spinal muscular atrophies

References
Further reading
Reilly MM (October 2000). "Classification of the hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies". Curr. Opin. Neurol. 13 (5): 561–4. doi:10.1097/00019052-200010000-00009. PMID 11073363. S2CID 43241647. == External links ==