The clinical course of BVVL can vary from one patient to another. There have been cases with progressive deterioration, deterioration followed by periods of stabilization, and deterioration with abrupt periods of increasing severity. The syndrome has previously been considered to have a high mortality rate but the initial response of most patients to the Riboflavin protocol are very encouraging and seem to indicate a significantly improved life expectancy could be achievable. There are three documented cases of BVVL where the patient died within the first five years of the disease. On the contrary, most patients have survived more than 10 years after the onset of their first symptom, and several cases have survived 20–30 years after the onset of their first symptom. Families with multiple cases of BVVL and, more generally, multiple cases of infantile progressive bulbar palsy can show variability in age of disease onset and survival. Dipti and Childs described such a situation in which a family had five children that had Infantile PBP. In this family, three siblings showed sensorineural deafness and other symptoms of BVVL at an older age. The other two siblings showed symptoms of Fazio-Londe disease and died before the age of two.
Brown–Vialetto–Van Laere syndrome
Nicolau–Balus syndrome
Nance–Horan syndrome
Dejerine–Sottas disease
Bart–Pumphrey syndrome
Temple–Baraitser syndrome
McGillivray syndrome
Bowen–Conradi syndrome