Targeted long-read sequencing as a single assay improves diagnosis of spastic-ataxia disorders

The hereditary spastic-ataxia spectrum disorders are a group of rare disabling neurological diseases. The genetic testing process is complex, and often requires multiple different assays to evaluate the many potential causative genes and variant types, including short tandem repeat expansions, single nucleotide variants, insertions/deletions, structural variants and copy number variants. This can be a protracted process and, even after all avenues are exhausted, many individuals do not receive a genetic diagnosis.