X-linked dominant inheritance with lethality in hemizygous males is a rare mode of inheritance. The three best-known disorders which seem to be inherited in this way, are incontinentia pigmenti (IP) Bloch-Sulzberger, oral-facial-digital I (OFD I) syndrome, and focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH syndrome, Goltz syndrome). It is the purpose of this article to give a review of the clinical and genetic aspects of the abovementioned diseases and to add those disorders in which this mode of inheritance is discussed. These disorders are: X-linked chondrodysplasia punctata (CP), cervico-oculo-acusticus syndrome (Wildervanck syndrome, COA), congenital cataract with microcornea or slight microphthalmia, muscular dystrophy-hemizygous lethal, partial lipodystrophy with lipatrophic diabetes and hyperlipidemia, Aicardi syndrome, coxo-auricular syndrome, and Johanson-Blizzard syndrome. OTC defiency is included in the study, although there is no lethality in utero, only in the neonatal period.

X-linked dominant inherited diseases with lethality in hemizygous males

The oral-facial-digital syndromes (OFDS) result from the pleiotropic effect of a morphogenetic impairment affecting almost invariably the mouth, face and digits. Other organ systems can be involved, defining specific types of OFDS. To date, 13 types have been distinguished based on characteristic clinical manifestations. An updated list of these types is provided and recent molecular data are discussed.

Oral-facial-digital syndromes: review and diagnostic guidelines.

Seven hundred five cases of agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) are reviewed from the literature (n = 660) and from our own observations (n = 45). The diagnosis was made or confirmed using neuroradiological techniques (n = 519) and necropsy or surgery (n = 231). Association with abnormalities often of chromosomes 8, 11, 13-15 and 18 suggests their involvement in abnormal corpus callosum (CC) morphogenesis. Four syndromes (e.g. Aicardi, acrocallosal, Andermann and Shapiro) are characterized by ACC, while others are only sporadically associated (e.g. fetal alcohol syndrome, Dandy-Walker syndrome, Leigh disease, Arnold-Chiari II syndrome). In non-Aicardi patients, the male-to-female ratio was 3:2 and X-linked recessive inheritance is postulated to play a role in some cases. Common abnormalities in acallosal patients included: mental retardation (MR), 73% [corrected]; seizures, 42%; ocular anomalies, 42%; gyral abnormalities, 32%; hydrocephalus, 23%; other central nervous system (CNS) lesions, 29%; costovertebral defects, 24%. Developmental disabilities are not attributable to absence of the CC per se, but due to other CNS malformation or dysfunction, which may be genetic or non-genetic. Future research using recombinant DNA techniques will enable isolation and identification of specific chromosomal defects in those cases with a genetic abnormality.

Clinicopathological Findings Associated with Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum

Genetic and clinical heterogeneity in the oral-facial-digital syndromes.

Oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1) causes polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and malformations of the mouth, face and digits. Recently, a gene on Xp22, OFD1, was reported to be mutated in a limited set of OFD1 patients. This study describes mutation analysis in six further OFD1 families. Additionally, gene expression was sought in human development. In two OFD1 kindreds affected by PKD, a frameshift mutation and a splice-site mutation were detected. In four apparently sporadic cases, three frameshift and a missense mutation were found. Using RT-PCR of RNA from first-trimester normal human embryos, both alternative splice forms of mRNA (OFD1a and OFD1b) were found to be widely expressed in organogenesis. Northern blot detected OFD1 mRNA in metanephros, brain, tongue, and limb, all organs affected in the syndrome. A polyclonal antibody directed to a C-terminal OFD1a epitope detected a 120-kD protein in the metanephros and in human renal mesenchymal cell lines. In normal human embryos, OFD1a immunolocalized to the metanephric mesenchyme, oral mucosa, nasal and cranial cartilage, and brain. Moreover, using normal human renal mesenchymal cell lines, the immunoreactive protein colocalized with gamma-tubulin, suggesting that OFD1 is associated with the centrosome. First, it is concluded that OFD1 mutations would generally be predicted to result in unstable transcripts or nonfunctional proteins. Second, OFD1 is expressed in human organogenesis; on the basis of the metanephric expression pattern, the results suggest that OFD1 plays a role in differentiation of metanephric precursor cells.

OFD1, the Gene Mutated in Oral-Facial-Digital Syndrome Type 1, Is Expressed in the Metanephros and in Human Embryonic Renal Mesenchymal Cells

A male infant is described showing all the major features of the oral-facial-digital syndrome (OFD): lobulated tongue with hypertrophic frena, fibrous bands extending into alveolar clefts, pseudocleft of upper lip, cleft palate, hypoplastic alae nasi, dystopia canthorum, various digital anomalies, and typical X-ray appearance of the skull. A partial agenesis of the corpus callosum with a lipoma was indicated by pneumoencephalography and angiography. The OFD syndrome is confined to females. In the present case an XXY chromosome constitution was demonstrated by cytogenetic studies. The occurrence of OFD and Klinefelter9s syndrome in one and the same person is ascribed to a very rare coincidence. OFD is considered to be due to an X-linked dominant mutant gene, with a recessive lethal effect. X-linkage is supported by the pattern of a more extreme lethal expression in hemizygous males versus viability of heterozygous females. An XXY individual is viable, presumably because of the normal allele which is active in a fraction of its cells. Other reports of males with OFD are critically evaluated.

The oral-facial-digital syndrome: a male-lethal condition in a boy with 47/xxy chromosomes

Introduction EPITHELIAL misplacements (heterotopias) in the gastrointestinal tract can often be mainly of academic interest. On the other hand, by virtue of their anatomical localization, some heterotopias might be expected to give rise to symptoms and these might present a difficulty in terms of differential diagnosis between a benign and a malignant condition. We report the case of a 10-year-old girl whose clinical and roentgenological picture was suggestive of a malignant process involving the stomach, and the diagnosis of heterotopic malformation was achieved by means of peroral gastric mucosal biopsy. Report of a Case Case History .—A 10-year-old girl, born in Israel of parents from Morocco, was referred to the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic of the Hadassah University Hospital because of anorexia of three months duration, associated with a loss of weight of about 22 lbs (10 kg). During these three months the child had stopped eating and had started to

Joseph Jacobs

Papers

The oral-facial-digital syndrome: a male-lethal condition in a boy with 47/xxy chromosomes

Heterotopic duodenal mucosa in the stomach