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There are many signs and symptoms of Prader–Willi syndrome. The symptoms can range from poor muscle tone during infancy to behavioral problems in early childhood. Some symptoms that are usually found in infants, besides poor muscle tone, would be a lack of eye coordination; some are born with almond-shaped eyes; and due to poor muscle tone the infant may not have a strong sucking reflex. Their cry is weak, and they have difficulty waking up. Another sign of this condition is a thin upper lip.
More aspects seen in a clinical overview include hypotonia and abnormal neurologic function, hypogonadism, developmental and cognitive delays, hyperphagia and obesity, short stature, and behavioral and psychiatric disturbances.
Holm "et al." (1993) describe the following features and signs as pretest indicators of PWS, although not all will be present.
Individuals with PWS are at risk of learning and attention difficulties. Curfs and Fryns (1992) conducted research into the varying degrees of learning disability found in PWS. Their results, using a measure of IQ, were as follows:
- 5%: IQ above 85 (high to low average intelligence)
- 27%: IQ 70–85 (borderline intellectual functioning)
- 39%: IQ 50–70 (mild intellectual disability)
- 27%: IQ 35–50 (moderate intellectual disability)
- 1%: IQ 20–35 (severe intellectual disability)
- <1%: IQ <20 (profound intellectual disability)
Cassidy found that 40% of individuals with PWS have borderline/low average intelligence, a figure higher than the 32% found in Curfs and Fryns' study. However, both studies suggest that most individuals (50–65%) fall within the mild/borderline/low average intelligence range.
Children with PWS show an unusual cognitive profile. They are often strong in visual organization and perception, including reading and vocabulary, but their spoken language (sometimes affected by hypernasality) is generally poorer than their comprehension. A marked skill in completing jigsaw puzzles has been noted, but this may be an effect of increased practice.
Auditory information processing and sequential processing are relatively poor, as are arithmetic and writing skills, visual and auditory short-term memory and auditory attention span. These sometimes improve with age, but deficits in these areas remain throughout adulthood.
There may be an association with psychosis.
The following text lists signs and symptoms of Angelman syndrome and their relative frequency in affected individuals.
The most striking sign of Timothy syndrome is the co-occurrence of both syndactyly (~0.03% of births) and long QT syndrome (1% per year) in a single patient. Other common symptoms of Timothy syndrome are cardiac arrhythmia (94%), heart malformations (59%), autism or an autism spectrum disorder (80% who survive long enough for evaluation). Facial dysmorphologies such as flattened noses also occur in approximately half of patients. Children with this disorder have small teeth which, due to poor enamel coating, are prone to dental cavities and often require removal. The average age of death due to complications of these symptoms is 2.5 years.
Atypical Timothy syndrome has largely the same symptoms as the classical form. Differences in the atypical form are the lack of syndactyly, the presence of musculoskeletal problems (particularly hyperflexible joints), and atrial fibrillation. Patients with atypical Timothy syndrome also have more facial deformities, including protruding foreheads and tongues. Finally, one patient with atypical Timothy syndrome had a body development discrepancy wherein her upper body was normally developed (that of a 6-year-old) while her lower half resembled a 2- or 3-year-old.
Children with Timothy syndrome tend to be born via caesarean section due to fetal distress.
The severity of symptoms of idic(15) vary greatly between individuals. Individuals with idic(15) usually have delays in language development and motor skills such as walking or sitting up. Other traits may include low muscle tone (hypotonia), seizures (>50%), short stature, and intellectual disability. Distinctive facial features associated with idic(15), where present, are usually very subtle but may include epicanthal folds (skin folds at the inner corners of one or both eyes), broad forehead, a flattened nasal bridge, button nose, and a high arched palate (roof of the mouth). Many individuals with idic(15) display features of autism, such as problems with communication and social interactions, obsessional interests (often with interactive mechanisms like wheels, doors or switches), unpredictable sleep cycles (and a reduced need for sleep), and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors (e.g., lining up toys, playing with a toy in the same manner over and over again, hand flapping, rocking back and forth). A high pain threshold is often observed. If speech develops, it is often echolalic but some individuals do grasp some language. With a severely affected person there may be an inability to walk or talk.
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder that mainly affects the nervous system. Symptoms include a small head and a specific facial appearance, severe intellectual disability, developmental disability, speech problems, balance and movement problems, seizures, and sleep problems. Children are usually happy in nature and have a particular interest in water. The symptoms generally become noticeable by one year of age.
Angelman syndrome is typically due to a new mutation rather than one inherited from a person's parents. Angelman syndrome is due to a lack of function of part of chromosome 15 inherited from a person's mother. Most of the time, it is due to a deletion or mutation of the UBE3A gene on that chromosome. Occasionally, it is due to inheriting two copies of chromosome 15 from a person's father and none from their mother. As the father's versions are inactivated by a process known as genomic imprinting, no functional version of the gene remains. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and possibly genetic testing.
No cure is available. Treatment is generally supportive in nature. Anti-seizure medications are used in those with seizures. Physical therapy and bracing may help with walking. Those affected have a nearly normal life expectancy.
AS affects 1 in 12,000 to 20,000 people. Males and females are equally frequently affected. It is named after a British pediatrician, Harry Angelman, who first described the syndrome in 1965. An older term, "happy puppet syndrome", is generally considered pejorative. Prader–Willi syndrome is a separate condition, caused by a similar loss of the father's chromosome 15.
The syndrome consists of severe micrognathia, cleft lip and/or palate, hypoplasia or aplasia of the postaxial elements of the limbs, coloboma of the eyelids, and supernumerary nipples. Additional features of the syndrome include
downward-slanting palpebral fissures, malar hypoplasia, malformed ears, and a broad nasal ridge. Other features include supernumerary vertebrae and other vertebral segmentation and rib defects, heart defects (patent ductus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect and Ostium primum atrial septal defect), lung disease from chronic infection, single umbilical artery, absence of the hemidiaphragm, hypoplasia of the femora, ossification defects of the ischium and pubis, bilobed tongue, lung hypoplasia, and renal reflux.
Birk-Barel syndrome is a rare genetic disorder associated with the KCNK9 gene. Signs and symptoms include mental retardation, hypotonia, hyperactivity, and syndromic facies.
Due to imprinting, mutations in the maternal copy of KCNK9 cause the conditions, while mutations in the paternal copy do not. As such, this condition can only be inherited from the mother.
Timothy syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterized by physical malformations, as well as neurological and developmental defects, including heart QT-prolongation, heart arrhythmias, structural heart defects, syndactyly (webbing of fingers and toes) and autism spectrum disorders.
Timothy syndrome often ends in early childhood death.
Physical Symptoms
- Heart Defects
- Characteristics of Autism
- Genital defects (in males)
- Childhood hypotonia
- Respiratory infections
- Motor Delay
- Renal defects
Behavioural Symptoms
- Passiveness
- Sociability
- Aggression
- Biting, and/or hitting
- Moodiness
- Disliking routine changes
The most notable features of Wilson-Turner Syndrome are intellectual disability, obesity, hypogonadism, gynecomastia, and distinct facial features. All of the symptoms are chronic. Affected females are known to have less severe signs and symptoms than males. Female carriers of the disorder may have none or mild symptoms.
- Intellectual Disability is the limitation in an individual's mental functioning and skills. Patients of Wilson-Turner Syndrome have mental disability generally ranging from mild to severe, more frequently on the former. This symptom often coincides with delay in speech development and the occurrence of mood swings. Most males were noted to have a quiet and a cheerful disposition. However, individuals who displayed aggression and became easily upset were also seen. Children will display a delay in speech development often combined with excessive drooling and low voice tone. Some of the studied male patients had speech impairment ranging from little or no speech to minor stuttering.
- Obesity is the accumulation of excess fat on the body. Individuals with Wilson-Turner Syndrome are characterized to have truncal obesity, meaning the fat has accumulated in one's middle. Truncal obesity is often related to heart disease, kidney disease, and lowered blood immune system. Truncal obesity in this disorder becomes more apparent around the age of puberty.
- Tapered fingers is when one end of the finger is diminished in thickness, causing the ends of the fingers to appear pointed. This deformity is not debilitating in any particular manner. In addition to tapered fingers, both hands and feet tend to be small. Some males were observed to have pes planus, also known as flat feet.
- Hypogonadism is a condition in which the gonads have a decrease in function. This condition may result from the lack of sex hormone synthesis, such as androgen and estrogen. Hormones produced by the gonads may also decrease. Hypogonadism also influences the onset of other conditions of the Wilson-Turner Syndrome, such as gynecomastia and decreased testes size in males. It can also cause short stature in men and women. In addition to little genital development, pubic and body hair are scant.
- Some of the facial features that are associated with Wilson-Turner Syndrome include small head circumference, high forehead, prominent ears, and nose with a flattened bridge. There have been cases of a moderately high palate. Low muscle tone and subcutaneous swelling in facial tissue has also been noted. Thick eyebrows are also common. However, there has been reported cases where individuals had none of the mentioned facial features, which shows phenotypic abnormalities have possible environmental influences.
- Gynecomastia is a non-cancerous increase in male breast tissue. It is believed that disturbances in the endocrine system leads to an increase in estrogen and androgen hormones lead to the development of gynecomastia. A key feature of gynecomastia is a rubbery or firm glandular subcutaneous chest tissue that is palpated under the areola of the nipple, instead of the soft fatty tissue. There can also be in increase in diameter of the areola asymmetry in the chest tissue. The breast enlargement can occur in one or both side. Similar to truncal obesity, gynecomastia becomes apparent around the age of puberty.
An alternative name of the condition, LEOPARD syndrome, is a mnemonic, originally coined in 1969, as the condition is characterized by some of the following seven conditions, the first letters of which spell LEOPARD, along with the characteristic "freckling" of the skin, caused by the lentigines that is reminiscent of the large cat.
- Lentigines — Reddish-brown to dark brown macules (surface skin lesion) generally occurring in a high number (10,000+) over a large portion of the skin, at times higher than 80% coverage. These can even appear inside the mouth (buccal), or on the surface of the eye (scleral). These have irregular borders and range in size from 1 mm in diameter to café-au-lait spots, several centimeters in diameter. Also, some areas of vitiligo-like hypopigmentation may be observed.
- Electrocardiographic conduction abnormalities: Generally observed on an electrocardiograph as a bundle branch block.
- Ocular hypertelorism: Wideset eyes, which lead to a similar facial resemblance between patients. Facial abnormalities are the second highest occurring symptom after the lentigines. Abnormalities also include: broad nasal root, prognathism (protruding lower jaw), or low-set, possibly rotated, ears.
- Pulmonary stenosis: Narrowing of the pulmonary artery as it exits the heart. Other cardiac abnormalities may be present, including aortic stenosis, or mitral valve prolapse.
- Abnormal genitalia: usually cryptorchidism (retention of testicles in body) or monorchism (single testicle). In female patients, this presents as missing or single ovaries, much harder by nature to detect. Ultrasound imaging is performed at regular intervals, from the age of 1 year, to determine if ovaries are present.
- Retarded growth: Slow, or stunted growth. Most newborns with this syndrome are of normal birth weight and length, but will often slow within the first year.
- Deafness: Sensorineural (nerve deafness).
The presence of all of these hallmarks is not needed for a diagnosis. A clinical diagnosis is considered made when, with lentigines present there are 2 other symptoms observed, such as ECG abnormalities and ocular hypertelorism, or without lentigines, 3 of the above conditions are present, with a first-degree relative (i.e. parent, child, sibling) with a clinical diagnosis.
- Additional dermatologic abnormalities (axillary freckling, localized hypopigmentation, interdigital webbing, hyperelastic skin)
- Mild mental retardation is observed in about 30% of those affected with the syndrome
- Nystagmus (involuntary eye movements), seizures, or hyposmia (reduced ability to smell) has been documented in a few patients
- In 2004, a patient was reported with recurrent upper extremity aneurysms that required surgical repairs.
- In 2006, a NSML patient was reported with acute myelogenous leukemia.
Due to the rarity of the syndrome itself, it is hard to determine whether certain additional diseases are actually part of the syndrome. With a base population of possibly less than one thousand individuals, one or two outlying cases can skew the statistical population very quickly.
Wilson-Turner Syndrome (WTS), also known as Mental Retardation X Linked Syndromic 6 (MRXS6), or Mental Retardation X Linked with Gynecomastia and Obesity is a congenital condition characterized by intellectual disability and associated with childhood-onset obesity. It is found to be linked to the X chromosome and caused by a mutation in the HDAC8 gene, which is located on the q arm at locus 13.1. Individuals with Wilson–Turner syndrome have a spectrum of physical characteristics including dysmorphic facial feature, hypogonadism, and short stature. Females generally have milder phenotype than males. The study of X-linked mental retardation began in 1943 when Martin and Bell reported a family exhibiting sex-linked mental retardation. However, this syndrome was not recognized until 1991. Wilson studied 14 males from 3 successive generations that presented hypogonadism, mental retardation, gynecomastia, short stature, among other symptoms. Eventually, this disorder was ruled distinct from a syndrome presented by Prader and Willi (Prader-Willi syndrome) because of its mode of inheritance, gynecomastia, and presence of small hands and feet. However, there are some speculations that this syndrome is in the same spectrum as the Cornelia de Lange syndrome. This disorder affects all demographics equally and is seen in less than one in one million people.
Isodicentric 15, also called idic(15), partial tetrasomy 15q, or inverted duplication 15 (inv dup 15), is a chromosome abnormality in which a child is born with extra genetic material from chromosome 15. People with idic(15) are typically born with 47 chromosomes in their body cells, instead of the normal 46. The extra chromosome is made up of a piece of chromosome 15 that has been duplicated end-to-end like a mirror image. It is the presence of this extra genetic material that is thought to account for the symptoms seen in some people with idic(15). Individuals with idic(15) have a total of four copies of this chromosome 15 region instead of the usual two copies (1 copy each on the maternal and paternal chromosomes).
The syndrome is also often referred to by the broader term "Chromosome 15q11.2-q13.1 Duplication Syndrome", shortened to Dup15q syndrome, a name that is supported and actively promoted by the US-based support organization Dup15q Alliance. Dup15q syndrome is a broader disease term, as it includes both idic(15) and interstitial 15q11.2-q13.1, another type of duplication that causes similar clinical traits.
The extra chromosome is occasionally found in the mosaic state, i.e. some of the cells carry the marker chromosome. However, mostly because of the marker's instability and tendency to be lost during cell division (mitosis), some cells are completely normal with 46 chromosomes. Occasionally, cells may have more than one idic(15), resulting in 48 or 49 chromosomes in all or some of their cells. A similar clinical picture albeit to a milder degree could be expected in individuals that have the extra chromosome 15 material as an interstitial duplication (when the extra piece of chromosome 15 is included "within" the long arm of one of the two copies of chromosome 15, rather than as a small extra 'marker' chromosome) - often abbreviated to int dup(15); the individual thus having 46 chromosomes.
Cohen syndrome is diagnosed by clinical examination, but often difficult due to variation in expression.
Ocular complications, though rare, are listed as optic atrophy, microphthalmia, pigmentary chorioretinitis, hemeralopia (decreased vision in bright light), myopia, strabismus, nystagmus and iris/retinal coloboma.
General appearance is obesity with thin/elongated arms and legs. Micrognathia, short philtrum, and high vaulted palate are common. Variable mental retardation with occasional seizure and deafness also is characteristic of Cohen syndrome.
Below are the common clinical features of those diagnosed with Floating–Harbor syndrome. Patients will show varying degrees of some or all FHS symptoms. Facial abnormalities are the most defining aspects of those diagnosed with this disease.
The main characteristics of 49,XXXXX are intellectual disability, short stature and craniofacial abnormalities. Other physical traits include the following:
- Small head
- Ear abnormalities
- Widely spaced eyes with upward slanting palpebral fissures and epicanthal folds
- Short neck
- Broad nose with a depressed nasal bridge
- Hyperextension of the elbows
- Dental abnormalities and cleft palate
- Clinodactyly of the 5th finger
- Deformities of the feet
- Heart defects
The three most common symptoms of Opitz G/BBB syndrome (both type I & II) are hypertelorism (exceptionally wide-spaced eyes), laryngo-tracheo-esophalgeal defects (including clefts and holes in the palate, larynx, trachea and esophagus) and hypospadias (urinary openings in males not at the tip of the penis) (Meroni, Opitz G/BBB syndrome, 2012). Abnormalities in the larynx, trachea and esophagus can cause significant difficulty breathing and/or swallowing and can result in reoccurring pneumonia and life-threatening situations. Commonly, there may be a gap between the trachea and esophagus, referred to as a laryngeal cleft; which can allow food or fluid to enter the airway and make breathing and eating a difficult task.
Genital abnormalities like a urinary opening under the penis (hypospadias), undescended testes (cryptorchidism), underdeveloped scrotum and a scrotum divided into two lobes (bifid scrotum) can all be commonplace for males with the disease.
Developmental delays of the brain and nervous system are also common in both types I and II of the disease. 50% of people with Opitz G/BBB Syndrome will experience developmental delay and mild intellectual disability. This can impact motor skills, speech and learning capabilities. Some of these instances are likened to autistic spectrum disorders. Close to half of the people with Opitz G/BBB Syndrome also have a cleft lip (hole in the lip opening) and possibly a cleft palate (hole in the roof of the mouth), as well. Less than half of the people diagnosed have heart defects, imperforate anus (obstructed anal opening), and brain defects. Of all the impairments, female carriers of X-linked Type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome usually only have ocular hypertelorism.
The differential diagnosis of broad thumbs includes Rubinstein-taybi syndrome, where they are a cardinal feature. FHS is also in the differential, which logically agrees with the thought that the disease is a result of a mutation in SRCAP, as this gene interacts with CBP.
Chromosomal deletion syndromes result from deletion of parts of chromosomes. Depending on the location, size, and whom the deletion is inherited from, there are a few known different variations of chromosome deletions. Chromosomal deletion syndromes typically involve larger deletions that are visible using karyotyping techniques. Smaller deletions result in Microdeletion syndrome, which are detected using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
Examples of chromosomal deletion syndromes include 5p-Deletion (cri du chat syndrome), 4p-Deletion (Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome), Prader–Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome.
In the beginning, medical officials defined ABCD syndrome by the four key characteristics of the syndrome. In the first case study of the Kurdish girl, researches described her as having "albinism and a black lock at the right temporo-occipital region along Blaschko lines, her eyelashes and brows were white, the irises in her eyes appeared to be blue, she had spots of retinal depigmentation, and she did not react to noise." The albinism is interesting in this diagnosis because the skin of an affected individual is albino pale besides the brown patches of mispigmented skin. The "black locks" described and seen in clinical pictures of the infants are thick patches of black hair above the ears that form a half circle reaching to the other ear to make a crest shape.
As identified in this first case study and stated in a dictionary of dermatologic syndromes, ABCD syndrome has many notable features, including "snow white hair in patches, distinct black locks of hair, skin white except brown macules, deafness, irises gray to blue, nystagmus, photophobia, poor visual activity, normal melanocytes in pigmented hair and skin, and absent melanocytes in areas of leukoderma." Individuals have the blue/gray irises typical of people affected by blindness. The C of ABCD syndrome is what distinguishes this genetic disorder from BADS and it involves cell migration disorder of the neurocytes of the gut. This characteristic occurs when nerve cells do not function correctly in the gut, which results in aganglionosis: The intestines’ failure to move food along the digestive tract. Deafness or being unresponsive to noise due to very low quality of hearing was reported in every case of ABCD syndrome. The characteristics of ABCD syndrome are clearly evident in an inflicted individual.
No longer considered a separate syndrome, ABCD syndrome is today considered to be a variation of Shah-Waardenburg type IV. Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is described as "the combination of sensorineural hearing loss, hypopigmentation of skin and hair, and pigmentary disturbances of the irides." Hearing loss and deafness, skin mispigmentation and albinism, and pigmentary changes in irises are the similarities between WS and ABCD. According to a dictionary of dermatologic syndromes, Waardenburg syndrome has many notable features, including "depigmentation of hair and skin – white forelock and premature graying of hair, confluent thick eyebrows, heterochromic irides or hypopigmentation of iris, laterally displaced inner canthi, congenital sensorineural deafness, broad nasal root, autosomal dominant disorder, and other associated findings, including black forelocks."
Miller syndrome is a genetic condition also known as the Genee–Wiedemann syndrome, Wildervanck–Smith syndrome, or postaxial acrofacial dystosis. The incidence of this condition is not known, but it is considered extremely rare. It is due to a mutation in the DHODH gene. Nothing is known of its pathogenesis.
Although confirmation of a specific genetic marker is in a significant number of individuals, there are no tests to clearly determine if this is what a person has. As a 'syndrome' a diagnosis is typically given for children upon confirmation of the presence of several 'symptoms' listed below. Symptoms are Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) combined with some of the following:
- Often small for gestational age (SGA) at birth (birth weight less than 2.8 kg)
- Feeding problems: the baby is uninterested in feeding and takes only small amounts with difficulty
- Hypoglycemia
- Excessive sweating as a baby, especially at night, and a greyness or pallor of the skin. This may be a symptom of hypoglycemia
- Triangular shaped face with a small jaw and a pointed chin that tends to lessen slightly with age. The mouth tends to curve down
- A blue tinge to the whites of the eyes in younger children
- Head circumference may be of normal size and disproportionate to a small body size
- Wide and late-closing fontanelle
- Clinodactyly
- Body asymmetry: one side of the body grows more slowly than the other
- Continued poor growth with no "catch up" into the normal centile lines on growth chart
- Precocious puberty (occasionally)
- Low muscle tone
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- A striking lack of fat
- Late closing of the opening between the heart hemispheres
- Constipation (sometimes severe)
The average adult height for patients without growth hormone treatment is 4'11" for males and 4'7" for females.
9q34 deletion syndrome, also known as Kleefstra syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder. Terminal deletions of chromosome 9q34 have been associated with childhood hypotonia, a distinctive facial appearance and developmental disability. The facial features typically described include arched eyebrows, small head circumference, midface hypoplasia, prominent jaw and a pouting lower lip. Individuals with this disease may often have speech impediments, such as speech delays. Other characteristics of this disease include: epilepsy, congenital and urogenetic defects, microcephaly, corpulence, and psychiatric disorders. From analysis of chromosomal breakpoints, as well as gene sequencing in suggestive cases, Kleefstra and colleagues identified EHMT1 as the causative gene.
This gene is responsible for producing the protein Histone methyltransferase which functions to alter histones. Ultimately, histone methyltransferases are important in deactivating certain genes, needed for proper growth and development. Moreover, a frameshift, missense, or nonsense error in the coding sequence of EHMT1 can result in this condition in an individual.
Cohen syndrome (also known as Pepper syndrome or Cervenka syndrome, named after Michael Cohen, William Pepper and Jaroslav Cervenka, who researched the illness) is a genetic disorder.