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Diagnosis is based on clinical findings.
'Clinical findings'
- Profound congenital sensorineural deafness is present
- CT scan or MRI of the inner ear shows no recognizable structure in the inner ear.
- As michel's aplasia is associated with LAMM syndrome there will be Microtia and microdontia present(small sized teeth).
Molecular genetic Testing
1. "FGF3" is the only gene, whose mutation can cause congenital deafness with Michel's aplasia, microdontia and microtia
Carrier testing for at-risk relatives requires identification of mutations which are responsible for occurrence of disease in the family.
"In utero" sonographic diagnosis is possible when characteristic features such as bilateral bowed femurs and tibia, clubbed feet, prominent curvature of the neck, a bell-shaped chest, pelvic dilation, and/or an undersized jaw are apparent
Radiographic techniques are generally used only postnatally and also rely on prototypical physical characteristics.
Genetic screening is also typically done postnatally, including PCR typing of microsatellite DNA and STS markers as well as comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies using DNA microarrays.
In some cases PCR and sequencing of the entire "SOX9" gene is used to diagnose CMD.
Many different translocation breakpoints and related chromosomal aberrations in patients with CMD have been identified.
There are several ways to determine if a child has chondrodystrophy, including parent testing and x-rays. If the fetus is suspected of having chondrodystrophy, the parents can be tested to find out if the fetus in fact does have the disease. It is not until the baby is born that a diagnosis can be declared. The diagnosis is declared with the help of several x-rays and charted bone growth patterns. Once the child is diagnosed the parents have to monitor the children because of several different factors. As the child gets older, hearing, eyesight and motor skills may be defective. Also, breathing (apnea) and weight problems (obesity) may occur. Structurally, scoliosis, bowed legs (genu varum), and arthritis may result.
The diagnosis of rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctate can be based on genetic testing, as well as radiography results, plus an examination(physical) of the individual.
Ischiopatellar dysplasia is usually identified through radiographic evidence since its characteristic changes are most notable in radiographic tests that indicate delayed boneage or absent ossification. A full skeletal survey should be performed on any patient that has an absent or hypoplastic patellae since they could potentially have ischiopatellar dysplasia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is especially helpful in the diagnosis of ischiopatellar syndrome and is recommended when an individual affected by ischiopatellar dysplasia has a traumatic injury to the knee.
The main diagnostic tools for evaluating FND are X-rays and CT-scans of the skull. These tools could display any possible intracranial pathology in FND. For example, CT can be used to reveal widening of nasal bones. Diagnostics are mainly used before reconstructive surgery, for proper planning and preparation.
Prenatally, various features of FND (such as hypertelorism) can be recognized using ultrasound techniques. However, only three cases of FND have been diagnosed based on a prenatal ultrasound.
Other conditions may also show symptoms of FND. For example, there are other syndromes that also represent with hypertelorism. Furthermore, disorders like an intracranial cyst can affect the frontonasal region, which can lead to symptoms similar to FND. Therefore, other options should always be considered in the differential diagnosis.
This can be done by annual evaluations by multidiciplinary team involving otolaryngologist, clinical geneticist, a pediatrician, the expertise of an educator of the deaf, a neurologist is appropriate.
Exact diagnosis remains widely built on precise history taking, with the characteristic clinical and radiographic skeletal features. Genetic diagnosis is based on DNA sequencing. Because plasma COMP levels are significantly reduced in patients with COMP mutations, such as pseudoachondroplasia, measuring plasma COMP levels has become a reliable means of diagnosing this and pathopysiologically similar disorders.
The disorder is progressive, with the ultimate severity of symptoms often depending on age of onset. In severe cases amputation has been performed when conservative measures such as physical therapy and regional anesthetics have been ineffective.
Management of rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctate can include physical therapy, additionally orthopedic procedures improved function sometimes in affected people. However the prognosis is poor in this condition.
People with Pyle disease are often asymptomatic. Dental anomalies may require orthodontic interventions. Skeletal anomalies may require orthopedic surgery.
A thorough diagnosis should be performed on every affected individual, and siblings should be studied for deafness, parathyroid and renal disease. The syndrome should be considered in infants who have been diagnosed prenatally with a chromosome 10p defect, and those who have been diagnosed with well defined phenotypes of urinary tract abnormalities. Management consists of treating the clinical abnormalities at the time of presentation. Prognosis depends on the severity of the kidney disease.
Accurate assessment of plain radiographic findings remains an important contributor to diagnosis of pseudoachondroplasia. It is noteworthy that vertebral radiographic abnormalities tend to resolve over time. Epiphyseal abnormalities tend to run a progressive course. Patients usually suffer early-onset arthritis of hips and knees. Many unique skeletal radiographic abnormalities of patients with pseudoachondroplasia have been reported in the literature.
- Together with rhizomelic limb shortening, the presence of epiphyseal-metaphyseal changes of the long bones is a distinctive radiologic feature of pseudoachondroplasia.
- Hypoplastic capital femoral epiphyses, broad short femoral necks, coxa vara, horizontality of acetabular roof and delayed eruption of secondary ossification center of os pubis and greater trochanter.
- Dysplastic/hypoplastic epiphyses especially of shoulders and around the knees.
- Metaphyseal broadening, irregularity and metaphyseal line of ossification. These abnormalities that are typically encountered in proximal humerus and around the knees are collectively known as “rachitic-like changes”.
- Radiographic lesions of the appendicular skeleton are typically bilateral and symmetric.
- Oval shaped vertebrae with anterior beak originating and platyspondyly demonstrated on lateral radiographs of the spine.
- Normal widening of the interpedicular distances caudally demonstrated on anteroposterior radiographs of the dorsolumbar region. This is an important differentiating feature between pseudoachondroplasia and achondroplasia.
- Odontoid hypoplasia may occur resulting in cervical instability.
Achondroplasia can be detected before birth by prenatal ultrasound. A DNA test can be performed before birth to detect homozygosity, wherein two copies of the mutant gene are inherited, a lethal condition leading to stillbirths. Clinical features include megalocephaly, short limbs, prominent forehead, thoracolumbar kyphosis and mid-face hypoplasia. Complications like dental malocclusion, hydrocephalus and repeated otitis media can be observed. The risk of death in infancy is increased due to the likelihood of compression of the spinal cord with or without upper airway obstruction.
A skeletal survey is useful to confirm the diagnosis of achondroplasia. The skull is large, with a narrow foramen magnum, and relatively small skull base. The vertebral bodies are short and flattened with relatively large intervertebral disk height, and there is congenitally narrowed spinal canal. The iliac wings are small and squared, with a narrow sciatic notch and horizontal acetabular roof. The tubular bones are short and thick with metaphyseal cupping and flaring and irregular growth plates. Fibular overgrowth is present. The hand is broad with short metacarpals and phalanges, and a trident configuration. The ribs are short with cupped anterior ends. If the radiographic features are not classic, a search for a different diagnosis should be entertained. Because of the extremely deformed bone structure, people with achondroplasia are often "double jointed".
The diagnosis can be made by fetal ultrasound by progressive discordance between the femur length and biparietal diameter by age. The trident hand configuration can be seen if the fingers are fully extended."
Another distinct characteristic of the syndrome is thoracolumbar gibbus in infancy.
There is no treatment at this time to promote bone growth in chondrodystrophy patients. Certain types of growth hormone seem to increase the rate of growth during the first year of life/treatment, but have no substantial effect in adult patients. Only a few surgical centers in the world perform, experimentally, leg and arm lengthening procedures. Most common therapies are found in seeking help from: family physicians, pediatrics, internists, endocrinologists, geneticists, orthopedists and neurologists.
Prenatal Diagnosis:
- Aymé, "et al." (1989) reported prenatal diagnosis of Fryns syndrome by sonography between 24 and 27 weeks.
- Manouvrier-Hanu et al. (1996) described the prenatal diagnosis of Fryns syndrome by ultrasonographic detection of diaphragmatic hernia and cystic hygroma. The diagnosis was confirmed after termination of the pregnancy. The fetus also had 2 erupted incisors; natal teeth had not been mentioned in other cases of Fryns syndrome.
Differential Diagnosis:
- McPherson et al. (1993) noted the phenotypic overlap between Fryns syndrome and the Pallister–Killian syndrome (601803), which is a dysmorphic syndrome with tissue-specific mosaicism of tetrasomy 12p.
- Veldman et al. (2002) discussed the differentiation between Fryns syndrome and Pallister–Killian syndrome, noting that differentiation is important to genetic counseling because Fryns syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder and Pallister–Killian syndrome is usually a sporadic chromosomal aberration. However, discrimination may be difficult due to the phenotypic similarity. In fact, in some infants with 'coarse face,' acral hypoplasia, and internal anomalies, the initial diagnosis of Fryns syndrome had to be changed because mosaicism of isochromosome 12p was detected in fibroblast cultures or kidney tissue. Although congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a common finding in both syndromes, bilateral congenital diaphragmatic hernia had been reported only in patients with Fryns syndrome until the report of the patient with Pallister–Killian syndrome by Veldman et al. (2002).
- Slavotinek (2004) reviewed the phenotypes of 52 reported cases of Fryns syndrome and reevaluated the diagnostic guidelines. She concluded that congenital diaphragmatic hernia and distal limb hypoplasia are strongly suggestive of Fryns syndrome, with other diagnostically relevant findings including pulmonary hypoplasia, craniofacial dysmorphism, polyhydramnios, and orofacial clefting. Slavotinek (2004) stated that other distinctive anomalies not mentioned in previous guidelines include ventricular dilatation or hydrocephalus, agenesis of the corpus callosum, abnormalities of the aorta, dilatation of the ureters, proximal thumbs, and broad clavicles.
The frequency is unknown, but the disease is considered to be very rare.
There are at least four types of FFDD:
- Type I: autosomal dominant FFDD
- Type II: autosomal recessive FFDD
- Type III: FFDD with other facial features
- Type IV: facial lesions resembling aplasia cutis in a preauricular distribution along the line of fusion of the maxillary and mandibular prominences. Autosomal recessive.
Research on prenatal diagnosis has shown that a diagnosis can be made prenatally in approximately 50% of fetuses presenting arthrogryposis. It could be found during routine ultrasound scanning showing a lack of mobility and abnormal position of the foetus. Nowadays there are more options for visualization of details and structures can be seen well, like the use of 4D ultrasound. In clinic a child can be diagnosed with arthrogryposis with physical examination, confirmed by ultrasound, , or muscle biopsy.
Diagnosis requires a neurological examination and neuroimaging can be helpful.
BVVL can be differentially diagnosed from similar conditions like Fazio-Londe syndrome and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in that those two conditions don't involve sensorineural hearing loss, while BVVL, Madras motor neuron disease, Nathalie syndrome, and Boltshauser syndrome do. Nathalie syndrome does not involve lower cranial nerve symptoms, so it can be excluded if those are present. If there is evidence of lower motor neuron involvement, Boltshauser syndrome can be excluded. Finally, if there is a family history of the condition, then BVVL is more likely than MMND, as MMND tends to be sporadic.
Genetic testing is able to identify genetic mutations underying BVVL.
Structural nasal deformities are corrected during or shortly after the facial bipartition surgery. In this procedure, bone grafts are used to reconstruct the nasal bridge. However, a second procedure is often needed after the development of the nose has been finalized (at the age of 14 years or even later).
Secondary rhinoplasty is based mainly on a nasal augmentation, since it has been proven better to add tissue to the nose than to remove tissue. This is caused by the minimal capacity of contraction of the nasal skin after surgery.
In rhinoplasty, the use of autografts (tissue from the same person as the surgery is performed on) is preferred. However, this is often made impossible by the relative damage done by previous surgery. In those cases, bone tissue from the skull or the ribs is used. However, this may give rise to serious complications such as fractures, resorption of the bone, or a flattened nasofacial angle.
To prevent these complications, an implant made out of alloplastic material could be considered. Implants take less surgery time, are limitlessly available and may have more favorable characteristics than autografts. However, possible risks are rejection, infection, migration of the implant, or unpredictable changes in the physical appearance in the long term.
At the age of skeletal maturity, orthognathic surgery may be needed because of the often hypoplastic maxilla. Skeletal maturity is usually reached around the age of 13 to 16. Orthognathic surgery engages in diagnosing and treating disorders of the face and teeth- and jaw position.
Modeling EEC syndrome in vitro has been achieved by reprogramming EEC fibroblasts carrying mutations R304W and R204W into induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. EEC-iPSC recapitulated defective epidermal and corneal fates. This model further identified PRIMA-1MET, a small compound that was identified as a compound targeting and reactivating p53 mutants based on a cell-based screening for rescuing the apoptotic activity of p53, as efficient to rescue R304W mutation defect. Of interest, similar effect had been observed on keratinocytes derived from the same patients. PRIMA-1MET could become an effective therapeutic tool for EEC patients.
Further genetic research is necessary to identify and rule out other possible loci contributing to EEC syndrome, though it seems certain that disruption of the p63 gene is involved to some extent. In addition, genetic research with an emphasis on genetic syndrome differentiation should prove to be very useful in distinguishing between syndromes that present with very similar clinical findings. There is much debate in current literature regarding clinical markers for syndromic diagnoses. Genetic findings could have great implications in clinical diagnosis and treatment of not only EEC, but also many other related syndromes.
The actual incidence of this disease is not known, but only 243 cases have been reported in the scientific literature, suggesting an incidence of on the order of one affected person in ten million people.