Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome accompanied by severe skeletal abnormalities in two Chinese siblings: Two case reports

Abstract

Introduction. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is a rare pediatric genetic syndrome with an incidence of one per eight million live births. The disorder is characterized by premature aging, generally leading to death due to myocardial infarction or stroke at approximately 13.4 years of age. The genetic diagnosis and special clinical manifestation in two Han Chinese siblings observed at our clinic for genetic counseling are described in this report. We screened the LMNA gene in these two siblings as well as in their unaffected parents. A homozygous mutation R527C was identified in the affected siblings, and both parents were heterozygous for this variant. Case presentation. In case 1, the elder 10-year-old female sibling showed the classic physical and radiological changes of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome in addition to a considerable overlap with the phenotype of mandibuloacral dysplasia. In case 2, the younger male sibling had begun to show some early physical changes at age six months. Conclusion: The phenotypic findings in the patients we describe here widen the clinical spectrum of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome symptoms, providing further recognition of the phenotypic range of LMNA-associated diseases. © 2013 Xiong et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.