1/5. Osteosclerotic metaphyseal dysplasia: a skeletal dysplasia that may mimic lead poisoning in a child with hypotonia and seizures.We report the case of a 23-month-old male with hypotonia, developmental delay, and complex seizures. Radiographs revealed profound sclerosis of the metaphyses and epiphyses of the long and short bones in the extremities, with a unique pattern of distribution. sclerosis also involved the anterior ribs, iliac crests, talus, and calcaneus. The skull and vertebral bodies appeared unaffected. blood lead levels were normal. We believe that this constellation of clinical and radiographic abnormalities closely resembles osteosclerotic metaphyseal dysplasia (OMD) due to an autosomal recessive defect. Characteristic skeletal findings were instrumental in determining the diagnosis. OMD is a very rare sclerosing bone disorder, first described in 1993. The syndrome is characterized clinically by developmental delay of a progressive nature, hypotonia, elevated alkaline phosphatase, and late-onset spastic paraplegia. We encountered a young child with these neurologic symptoms who displayed sclerotic metaphyseal changes on hand radiographs obtained to determine the bone age. lead poisoning, a known cause of metaphyseal sclerosis, was initially suspected. Careful analysis of the metaphyseal bone changes helped to distinguish this bone dysplasia from lead poisoning and other causes of metaphyseal sclerosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. Distal arthrogryposis and neonatal hypotonia: an unusual presentation of prader-willi syndrome (PWS).The clinical features of prader-willi syndrome (PWS) in the neonate are marked by hypotonia, absence of crying, and feeding difficulties, but the clinical nature of PWS in utero remains unclear. We report a case of PWS with fetal immobility and distal arthrogryposis in a girl admitted the first day of life to the neonatal intensive care unit for severe hypotonia and respiratory distress.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. Molecular characterisation of patients with subtelomeric 22q abnormalities using chromosome specific array-based comparative genomic hybridisation.The 22q13 deletion syndrome is associated with global developmental delay, absent or delayed speech, and generalised hypotonia. In this study, the size and nature of 22q13 deletions (n=9) were studied in detail by high-resolution chromosome specific array-based comparative genomic hybridisation (array CGH). The deletion sizes varied considerably between the different patients, that is, the largest deletion spanning 8.4 Mb with the breakpoint mapping to 22q13.2 and the smallest deletion spanning 3.3 Mb with the breakpoint mapping to 22q13.31. In one case, a unique subtelomeric 3.9 Mb deletion associated with a 2.0 Mb duplication of 22q13 was observed, adding to a growing number of similar cases identified for other chromosome ends. Remarkably, this patient had signs suggestive of retinitis pigmentosa, which has never been reported before in the 22q13 deletion syndrome. The identification of two pairs of recurrent proximal breakpoints on 22q13 suggests that these specific regions may be prone to recombination, due to yet unknown genome architectural features. In addition to the copy number changes on 22q13, a duplication of approximately 330 kb on 22q11.1 was observed and shown to be a genetic large-scale copy number variation without clinical consequences. The current study failed to reveal relationships between the clinical features and the deletion sizes. Global developmental delay and absent or severely delayed speech were observed in all patients, whereas hypotonia was present in 89% of the cases (8/9). This study underscores the utility of array CGH for characterising the size and nature of subtelomeric deletions, such as monosomy 22q13, and underlines the considerable variability in deletion size in the 22q13 deletion syndrome regardless of the clinical phenotype.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. Alexander's disease: a case report with brain biopsy, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI findings.Alexander's disease is reported in a 6-month-old infant. The clinical course was characterized by hydrocephalus, irritability and psychomotor retardation, with subsequent seizures and spasticity. Findings on ultrasound examination, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and brain biopsy are presented. The glial nature of the Rosenthal fibers was confirmed by immuno-gold staining. Clinical classification and differential diagnosis are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. Two Prader-Willi/angelman syndrome loci present in an isodicentric marker chromosome.We found an abnormal 47,XX, mar karyotype in a patient with developmental delay, hypotonia, microcephaly, failure to thrive, and cognitive delay. When metaphases were hybridized with Prader-Willi and Angelman loci-specific probes by the FISH technique, two sites were noted at opposite positions on the marker chromosome. The alphoid satellite dna probe documented the isodicentric nature while retention of the p arms on both sides of the marker chromosome was demonstrated by beta satellite probe. The patient does not exhibit manifestations of either syndrome despite the presence of these loci in tetrasomic dose. The present investigation suggests that other marker chromosomes be reevaluated, as their clinical manifestations are quite variable.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |