Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) in a patient with history of familial multiple lipomatosis (FML)

Genetics of syndromic ocular coloboma: CHARGE and COACH syndromes

Optic fissure closure defects result in uveal coloboma, a potentially blinding condition affecting between 0.5 and 2.6 per 10,000 births that may cause up to 10% of childhood blindness. Uveal coloboma is on a phenotypic continuum with microphthalmia (small eye) and anophthalmia (primordial/no ocular tissue), the so-called MAC spectrum. This review gives a brief overview of the developmental biology behind coloboma and its clinical presentation/spectrum. Special attention will be given to two prominent, syndromic forms of coloboma, namely, CHARGE (Coloboma, Heart defect, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth and development, Genital hypoplasia, and Ear anomalies/deafness) and COACH (Cerebellar vermis hypoplasia, Oligophrenia, Ataxia, Coloboma, and Hepatic fibrosis) syndromes. Approaches employed to identify genes involved in optic fissure closure in animal models and recent advances in live imaging of zebrafish eye development are also discussed.

Familial multiple lipomatosis with clear autosomal dominant inheritance and onset in early adolescence

Familial multiple lipomatosis is rare. Several modes of inheritance have been proposed but no conclusive evidence shown, although some families have suggested autosomal dominant inheritance. The authors describe a family with multiple lipomatosis showing clear autosomal dominant inheritance, and no mutations within the NF1, SPRED1 or Cowden disease (PTEN) genes. Familial autosomal dominant lipomatosis is a rare but distinct entity.