A pediatric neurologist's clinical experiences in Saudi Arabia.

From 1996 to 2002, I was head of a pediatric neurology section and helped develop a fellowship training program in Saudi Arabia. This was a most rewarding learning experience because of an abundance of neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases in a population with a high rate of consanguinity. In addition to inborn errors of metabolism, other prevalent disorders included late-infantile neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis, hyperekplexia, focal cortical dysplasias, sarcoglycanopathies, familial spastic paraplegia, demyelinating diseases, and dysmorphic syndromes. These patient experiences were a rich source of stimulation for clinical teaching and research.