Manifestations of hereditary multiple exostoses

The solitary osteochondroma, a common pediatric bone tumor, is a cartilage-capped exostosis. Hereditary multiple exostosis is an autosomal dominant disorder manifested by the presence of multiple osteochondromas. Linkage analysis has implicated mutations in the EXT gene family, resulting in an error in the regulation of normal chondrocyte proliferation and maturation that leads to abnormal bone growth. Although exostoses are benign lesions, they are often associated with characteristic progressive skeletal deformities and may cause clinical symptoms. The most common deformities include short stature, limb-length discrepancies, valgus deformities of the knee and ankle, asymmetry of the pectoral and pelvic girdles, bowing of the radius with ulnar deviation of the wrist, and subluxation of the radiocapitellar joint. For certain deformities, surgery can prevent progression and provide correction. Patients with hereditary multiple exostosis have a slight risk of sarcomatous transformation of the cartilaginous portion of the exostosis.

Glypican 1 gene: good candidate for brachydactyly type E

In this report, we describe two siblings, a brother and a sister, with mental retardation and limb abnormalities (brachymetacarpy and brachymetatarsy in the brother and clinodactyly in his sister). Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis (FISH) using subtelomeric probes proved that the patients carried an unbalanced subtelomeric rearrangement with 2qter deletion involving the Glypican 1 gene. Given the expression pattern in the developing limb bud, Glypican 1 gene represents a good candidate for brachydactyly E.

Mobius sequence--a Swedish multidiscipline study

Mobius sequence/syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by congenital palsy of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves. Other cranial nerves may be affected, skeletal and orofacial anomalies and mental retardation occur. The aims were to determine the frequency of associated clinical characteristics and to identify any pregnancy or environmental factors in patients with Mobius sequence. A prospective study of 25 Swedes with apparent involvement of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves was performed and 25 patients, 1 month to 55 years old, were examined. Obvious associated systemic anomalies observed included: limb malformations (10), Poland anomaly (2), hypodontia (7), microglossia (6), cleft palate (4), hearing impairment (5) and external ear malformation (1). Pronounced functional abnormalities were observed involving facial expression (16), speech (13), eating and swallowing (12) and difficulty in sucking in infancy (11). Six patients had an autistic syndrome, one an autistic-like condition, and mental retardation was found in all these patients. No common aetiological cause was found but their mothers' pregnancy histories revealed a history of benzodiazepines (1), bleeding during pregnancy (8), spontaneous abortion (7) and chorion villus sampling in the second month of pregnancy (1). In conclusion, many patients had multiple problems with eating and communication resulting from facial palsy, cleft palate and tongue anomalies. Autism and mental retardation was diagnosed in one-third of the patients. Awareness of the wide spectrum of manifestations in Mobius sequence will assist in identification of the associated malformations and functional problems that are often seen and result in better care of the children.

Prevalence of mutilans-like hand deformities in patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. A prospective 20-year study

This study examined radiographically the prevalence of arthritis mutilans hand deformities in an inception cohort of 68 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Hand deformities of 103 RF-positive RA patients were evaluated after 8 years, 83 patients after 15 years and 68 patients 20 years after entry. The grade of destruction in the hand joints was assessed by the Larsen method and Larsen scores of 0-50 were determined for both PIP (+IP) and MCP joints. At the end point, 3 patients had Larsen scores > or =40 for both PIP and MCP joints. These three patients had severe resorption in most of the finger joints, but did not demonstrate classical opera-glass hand. The prevalence of mutilans-like hand deformities with RA was 3/68 (4.4%) in a prospective 20-year study.

[Psychogenic spastic hand]

Twelve patients seen over a 8-year period with psychogenic spasms of the hand are reported. Six elderly patients presented with extrinsic flexion of the two or three medial fingers with sparing of the thumb and index. Six other patients had various hand attitudes following coincidental but not causal trauma to the upper extremity. Because of the differences in clinical presentation, age of patients and coincident trauma in some cases, the former patients were characterized as type I psychogenic spasms and the latter as type II. A major recurrent depression was the commonest psychiatric diagnosis (DSM-III-R, Axis I) with a concurrent dependent or borderline personality (DSM-III-R, Axis II). The diagnosis of psychogenic spasm of the hand is a diagnosis of exclusion, that requires a multidisciplinary approach including surgeon, neurologist, psychiatrist and rehabilitation therapist. Electromyographic studies are used to rule out a neurological or muscular etiology of the condition. Surgical treatment was uniformly unsuccessful and is probably contraindicated. Only one patient had a nearly complete spontaneous recovery.

Hepatoerythropoietic porphyria in a woman with short stature and deformed hands

A 23-year-old woman from Honduras was diagnosed to have hepatoerythropoietic porphyria. She had photosensitive skin of early onset, hypertrichosis, and severe scleroderma-like lesions of the hands. Erythrocyte uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity was reduced to about 10% of the normal activity.

Mitten deformity in severe generalized recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa: histological, immunofluorescence, and ultrastructural study

Light and electron microscopy and indirect immunofluorescence techniques were used to study the nature of the mitten deformity in five adult patients with severe generalized recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa undergoing release of hand and finger contractures. Although the mitten appeared largely to be clinically separated from the underlying fixed digits, histology showed mostly normal keratinocytes beneath a thickened stratum corneum. The lower margin of the mitten was formed just below the lamina densa of the basement membrane, at a level similar to that of the usual blister formation in this condition. No anchoring fibrils and only a few distinct dermal structures were noted. A substantial portion of the mitten, however, consisted of necrotic keratinocytes without an intact basement membrane. This finding suggests that the mitten is not suitable for use as an epidermal autograft and confirms the rationale for taking split thickness skin grafts to close skin defects in patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa undergoing plastic surgery.

Another case of microcephaly, facial clefting, and preaxial polydactyly

We describe a nine month old boy with failure to thrive, developmental delay, bilateral cleft lip and palate, and left preaxial polydactyly. The features are similar to those in a child described by Howard and Young and may be the second case of a previously unknown syndrome.

A new syndrome of familial short stature, small hands, valvular heart disease and a characteristic facies

A mother and two daughters are presented with severe short stature with disproportionately short limbs, small hands, clinodactyly, valvular heart disease and a distinctive facies with ptosis, high-arched palate and crowded dentition. This appears to be a previously undescribed syndrome, probably inherited as an autosomal dominant trait.