EEM syndrome exhibits a combination of prominent symptoms and features. These include: ectodermal dysplasia (systemic malformations of ectodermal tissues), ectrodactyly ("lobster claw" deformity in the hands and feet), macular dystrophy (a progressive eye disease), syndactyly (webbed fingers or toes), hypotrichosis (a type of hair-loss), and dental abnormalities (hypodontia).

The clinical manifestations present at birth are generalized hypotonia, muscle weakness, developmental delay with mental retardation and occasional seizures. The congenital muscular dystrophy is characterized by hypoglycosylation of α-dystroglycan.

Those born with the disease also experience severe ocular and brain defects. Half of all children with WWS are born with encephalocele, which is a gap in the skull that will not seal. The meninges of the brain protrude through this gap due to the neural tube failing to close during development. A malformation of the a baby's cerebellum is often a sign of this disease.Common ocular issues associated with WWS are abnormally small eyes and retinal abnormalities cause by an underdeveloped light-sensitive area in the back of the eye.

EEM syndrome (or Ectodermal dysplasia, Ectrodactyly and Macular dystrophy syndrome) is an autosomal recessive congenital malformation disorder affecting tissues associated with the ectoderm (skin, hair, nails, teeth), and also the hands, feet and eyes.

Jeune syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects the way a child’s cartilage and bones develop. It begins before the child is born. Jeune syndrome affects the child's rib cage, pelvis, arms and legs.

Usually, problems with the rib cage cause the most serious health problems for children with Jeune syndrome. Their rib cages (thorax) are smaller and narrower than usual. This can keep the child's lungs from developing fully or expanding when the child inhales. The child may breathe rapidly and shallowly. They may have trouble breathing when they have an upper or lower respiratory infection, like pneumonia.

Breathing trouble can range from mild to severe. In some children, it is not noticeable, aside from fast breathing. In most children, breathing problems are serious. About 60% to 70% of children with this condition die from respiratory failure as babies or young children.

Children with Jeune syndrome who survive often develop problems with their kidneys, another serious feature of Jeune syndrome. Over time they may experience renal failure.

As a result, few children with Jeune syndrome live into their teen years.

Children with Jeune syndrome have a form of dwarfism. They are short in stature, and their arms and legs are shorter than most people’s.

Another name for Jeune syndrome is asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy. This diagnosis is grouped with other chest problems called thoracic insufficiency syndrome (TIS).

Walker–Warburg syndrome (WWS), also called Warburg syndrome, Chemke syndrome, HARD syndrome (Hydrocephalus, Agyria and Retinal Dysplasia), Pagon syndrome, cerebroocular dysgenesis (COD) or cerebroocular dysplasia-muscular dystrophy syndrome (COD-MD), is a rare form of autosomal recessive congenital muscular dystrophy. It is associated with brain (lissencephaly, hydrocephalus, cerebellar malformations) and eye abnormalities. This condition has a worldwide distribution. The overall incidence is unknown but a survey in North-eastern Italy has reported an incidence rate of 1.2 per 100,000 live births. It is the most severe form of congenital muscular dystrophy with most children dying before the age of three years.

DKC can be characterized by cutaneous pigmentation, premature graying, of the nails, leukoplakia of the oral mucosa, continuous lacrimation due to atresia of the lacrimal ducts, often thrombocytopenia, anemia, testicular atrophy in the male carriers, and predisposition to cancer. Many of these symptoms are characteristic of geriatrics, and those carrying the more serious forms of the disease often have significantly shortened lifespans.

Symptoms for Alström syndrome generally appear during infancy with great variability in age. Some of the symptoms include:

- Heart failure (Dilated cardiomyopathy) in over 60% of cases, usually within the first few weeks after birth, but sometimes the onset is in adolescence or adulthood.

- Light sensitivity and vision problems (Cone-rod dystrophy) in all cases, usually within 15 months of birth and progressively worsening until about 20 years of age

- Delays in early, developmental milestones in 50% of cases, learning disabilities in about 30% of cases

- Obesity in 100% of cases, apparent by 5 years of age, but often apparent in infancy (Alström infants usually have normal birth weights, and by adolescence, weights tend to be in the high-normal to normal range)

- Nystagmus (usually affects the children) one of the first symptoms to occur which causes involuntary rapid eye movement.

- Heart failure (Dilated cardiomyopathy) in over 60% of cases, usually within the first few weeks after birth, but sometimes the onset is in adolescence or adulthood.(chronic)

- Mild to moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

- Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in early childhood.

- Hyperinsulinemia/ insulin resistance—development of high level of insulin in blood.

- Steatosis (fatty liver) and elevated transaminases (liver enzymes) often develop in childhood and can progress in some patients to cirrhosis and liver failure.

- Endocrine dysfunctions may occur where the patient may experience an under or over active thyroid gland, weak growth hormone, increased androgen in females, and low testosterone in males.

- Slowly progressive kidney failure can occur in the second to fourth decade of life.

Age: The mucocutaneous features of DKC typically develop between ages 5 and 15 years. The median age of onset of the peripheral cytopenia is 10 years.

Sex: The male-to-female ratio is approximately 3:1.

Physical: The triad of reticulated hyperpigmentation of the skin, nail dystrophy, and leukoplakia characterizes DKC. The syndrome is clinically heterogeneous; in addition to the diagnostic mucocutaneous features and bone marrow failure, affected individuals can have a variety of other clinical features.

Cutaneous findings:

The primary finding is abnormal skin pigmentation, with tan-to-gray hyperpigmented or hypopigmented macules and patches in a mottled or reticulated pattern. Reticulated pigmentation occurs in approximately 90% of patients. Poikilodermatous changes with atrophy and telangiectasia are common.

The cutaneous presentation may clinically and histologically resemble graft versus host disease. The typical distribution involves the sun-exposed areas, including the upper trunk, neck, and face. Other cutaneous findings may include alopecia of the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes; premature graying of the hair; hyperhidrosis; hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles; and adermatoglyphia (loss of dermal ridges on fingers and toes).

Nail findings:

Nail dystrophy is seen in approximately 90% of patients, with fingernail involvement often preceding toenail involvement.

Progressive nail dystrophy begins with ridging and longitudinal splitting. Progressive atrophy, thinning, pterygium, and distortion eventuate in small, rudimentary, or absent nails.

Mucosal findings:

Mucosal leukoplakia occurs in approximately 80% of patients and typically involves the buccal mucosa, tongue, and oropharynx. The leukoplakia may become verrucous, and ulceration may occur. Patients also may have an increased prevalence and severity of periodontal disease.

Other mucosal sites may be involved (e.g., esophagus, urethral meatus, glans penis, lacrimal duct, conjunctiva, vagina, anus). Constriction and stenosis can occur at these sites, with subsequent development of dysphagia, dysuria, phimosis, and epiphora.

Bone marrow failure:

Approximately 90% have peripheral cytopenia of one or more lineages. In some cases, this is the initial presentation, with a median age of onset of 10 years.

Bone marrow failure is a major cause of death, with approximately 70% of deaths related to bleeding and opportunistic infections as a result of bone marrow failure.

Pulmonary complications:

Approximately 20% of individuals with DKC develop pulmonary complications, including pulmonary fibrosis and abnormalities of pulmonary vasculature.

The recommendation is that DKC patients avoid taking drugs with pulmonary toxicity (e.g., busulfan) and that they have their lungs shielded from radiation during BMT.

Increased risk of malignancy:

Patients have an increased prevalence of malignant mucosal neoplasms, particularly squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, nasopharynx, esophagus, rectum, vagina, or cervix. These often occur within sites of leukoplakia.

The prevalence of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is also increased. Other malignancies reported include Hodgkin lymphoma, adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract, and bronchial and laryngeal carcinoma.

Malignancy tends to develop in the third decade of life.

Neurologic system findings: Patients may have learning difficulties and mental retardation.

Ophthalmic system findings: DKC reportedly is associated with conjunctivitis, blepharitides, and pterygium. Lacrimal duct stenosis resulting in epiphora (i.e., excessive tearing) occurs in approximately 80% of patients.

Skeletal system findings: Patients may have mandibular hypoplasia, osteoporosis, avascular necrosis, and scoliosis.

Gastrointestinal system findings: These may include esophageal webs, hepatosplenomegaly, enteropathy, and cirrhosis.

Genitourinary system findings:: Hypospastic testes, hypospadias, and ureteral stenosis are reported.

Female carriers: Female carriers of DKC may have subtle clinical features. One study showed that 3 of 20 female carriers had clinical features that included a single dystrophic nail, a patch of hypopigmentation, or mild leukoplakia.

Asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia or Jeune syndrome is a ciliopathy.It is also known as "Jeune syndrome".

It was described in 1955.

Alström syndrome, also called Alstrom-Halgren syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the gene ALMS1. It is among the rarest genetic disorders in the world, as currently it has only 266 reported cases in medical literature and over 501 known cases in 47 countries. It was first described by Carl-Henry Alström in Sweden in 1959. Alstrom syndrome is sometimes confused with Bardet-Biedl syndrome, which has similar symptoms. Bardet-Biedl syndrome tends to have later onset in its symptoms. The likelihood of two carrier parents both passing the gene and therefore having a child affected by the syndrome is 25% with each pregnancy. The likelihood of having a child who is only a carrier of the gene is 50% with each pregnancy. The likelihood of a child receiving normal genes from both parents and being considered to be "genetically" normal is 25%. The risk for carrying the gene is equivalent for both males and females.

"Alström syndrome (AS) is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by multiorgan dysfunction. The key features are childhood obesity, blindness due to congenital retinal dystrophy, and sensorineural hearing loss. Associated endocrinologic features include hyperinsulinemia, early-onset type 2 diabetes, and hypertriglyceridemia."

Thus, AS shares several features with the common metabolic syndrome, namely obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. Mutations in the ALMS1 gene have been found to be causative for AS with a total of 79 disease-causing mutations having been described." Prevalence estimates have ranged from 1 in 10,000 to fewer than 1 in 1,000,000 individuals in the general population.

The age of onset is in a child's infancy. Bilateral corneal opacification started in the second year of life and led to severe visual impairment. However, cornea surgery and replacement resulted in better vision.

Symptoms include a combination of spinocerebellar degeneration and corneal dystrophy. Mental retardation and slowly progressive cerebellar abnormalities were also diagnosed in patients. Other symptoms include corneal edema, thickening of Descemet membrane, and degenerative pannus. Abnormalities were found in muscle and sural nerves.

Spastic ataxia-corneal dystrophy syndrome (also known as Bedouin spastic ataxia syndrome) is an autosomally resessive disease. It has been found in an inbred Bedouin family. It was first described in 1986. A member of the family who was first diagnosed with this disease also had Bartter syndrome. It was concluded by its first descriptors Mousa-Al et al. that the disease is different from a disease known as corneal-cerebellar syndrome that had been found in 1985.

Symptoms include spastic ataxia, cataracts, macular corneal dystrophy and nonaxial myopia. Mental development is normal.

Hair growth on the head is noticeably less full than normal, and the hairs are very weak; the rest of the body shows normal hair.

The macular degeneration comes on slowly with deterioration of central vision, leading to a loss of reading ability. Those affected may otherwise develop in a completely healthy manner; life expectancy is normal.

In terms of the signs/symptoms of Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy it is characterized by a decrease in skeletal muscle tone as well as an impairment in brain and eye development.Initial symptoms of FCMD present in early infancy as decreased ability to feed. Marked differences in facial appearance occur due to decreased muscle tone. Further characteristics include:

- Seizures

- Delay in developmental

- Cardiac issues

- Swallowing difficulty

- Neurological problems

Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy also affects the nervous system and various associated parts. FCMD affects normal development of the brain producing a broadly smooth, bumpy shaped cortex named cobblestone lissencephaly as well as various other malformations, notably micropolygyria. Children also experience delayed myelination in the brain.

Corneal-cerebellar syndrome (also known as Der Kaloustian-Jarudi-Khoury syndrome) is an autosomally resessive disease that was first described in 1985. Three cases are known: all are sisters in the same family.

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy is a form of congenital muscular dystrophy.It is associated with variants of type VI collagen, it is commonly associated with muscle weakness and respiratory problems, though cardiac issues are not associated with this type of CMD. It is named after Otto Ullrich, who is also known for the Ullrich-Turner syndrome.

Laminopathies and other nuclear envelopathies have a large variety of clinical symptoms including skeletal and/or cardiac muscular dystrophy, lipodystrophy and diabetes, dysplasia, dermo- or neuropathy, leukodystrophy, and progeria (premature aging). Most of these symptoms develop after birth, typically during childhood or adolescence. Some laminopathies however may lead to an early death, and mutations of lamin B (LMNB1 gene) may be lethal before or at birth.

The presentation of Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy in an affected individual is as follows:

- Muscle weakness

- Difficulty walking

- Contractures (neck)

- Joint looseness

Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy (HJMD or CDH3) is an extremely rare congenital disease characterized by sparse hair growth (hypotrichosis) from birth and progressive macular corneal dystrophy.

Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) is a rare, autosomal recessive form of muscular dystrophy (weakness and breakdown of muscular tissue) mainly described in Japan but also identified in Turkish and Ashkenazi Jewish patients, fifteen cases were first described on 1960 by Fukuyama.

FCMD mainly affects the brain, eyes, and muscles, in particular, the disorder affects development of the skeletal muscles leading to weakness and deformed appearances, and brain development is blunted affecting cognitive functioning as well as social skills. In 1995, the disorder was linked to mutations in a gene coding for the protein fukutin (the "FCMD" gene). Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy is the second most prevalent form of muscular dystrophy in Japan. One out of every 90 people in Japan is a heterozygous carrier.

Lisch epithelial corneal dystrophy (LECD), also known as band-shaped and whorled microcystic dystrophy of the corneal epithelium, is a rare form of corneal dystrophy first described in 1992 by Lisch et al. In one study it was linked to chromosomal region Xp22.3, with as yet unknown candidate genes.

The main features of this disease are bilateral or unilateral gray band-shaped and feathery opacities. They sometimes take on a form of a whirlpool, repeating the known pattern of corneal epithelium renewal. Abrasion of the epithelium in 3 patients brought only temporary relief, with abnormal epithelium regrowth in several months.

Epithelial cells in the zones of opacity were shown to have diffuse cytoplasmic vacuoles with as yet unestablished content.

Congenital hereditary corneal dystrophy (CHED) is a form of corneal dystrophy which presents at birth.

Symptoms of EDMD begin in teenage years with toe-walking, rigid spine, face weakness, hand weakness and calf hypertrophy. Among other signs/symptoms of Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy are:

- "Muscle weakness" EDMD can affect the shoulders and lower legs

- "Cardiac involvement" can affect an individuals heart rate (bradycardia, palpitations)

- "Contractures" of the muscles occurs slowly, eventually leading to the need for orthopedics (walker, cane)

Laminopathies ("" + "") are a group of rare genetic disorders caused by mutations in genes encoding proteins of the nuclear lamina. They are included in the more generic term "nuclear envelopathies" that was coined in 2000 for diseases associated with defects of the nuclear envelope. Since the first reports of laminopathies in the late 1990s, increased research efforts have started to uncover the vital role of nuclear envelope proteins in cell and tissue integrity in animals.

Distal muscular dystrophy (or distal myopathy) is a group of disorders characterized by onset in the hands or feet. Many types involve dysferlin, but it has been suggested that not all cases do.

Types include:

DYSF is also associated with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B.

Distal muscular dystrophy is a type of muscular dystrophy that affects the muscles of the extremities, the hands, feet, lower arms, or lower legs. The cause of this dystrophy is very hard to determine because it can be a mutation in any of at least eight genes and not all are known yet. These mutations can be inherited from one parent, autosomal dominant, or from both parents, autosomal recessive. Along with being able to inherit the mutated gene, distal muscular dystrophy has slow progress therefore the patient may not know that they have it until they are in their late 40’s or 50’s. There are eight known types of distal muscular dystrophy. They are Welander’s distal myopathy, Finnish (tibial) distal myopathy, Miyoshi distal myopathy, Nonaka distal myopathy, Gowers–Laing distal myopathy, hereditary inclusion-body myositis type 1, distal myopathy with vocal cord and pharyngeal weakness, and ZASP-related myopathy. All of these affect different regions of the extremities and can show up as early as 5 years of age to as late as 50 years old. Doctors are still trying to determine what causes these mutations along with effective treatments.