Clinical and Molecular Diagnosis of Osteocraniostenosis in Fetuses and Newborns: Prenatal Ultrasound, Clinical, Radiological and Pathological Features

Abstract

Osteocraniostenosis (OCS, OMIM #602361) is a severe, usually lethal condition characterized by gracile bones with thin diaphyses, a cloverleaf-shaped skull and splenic hypo/aplasia. The condition is caused by heterozygous mutations in the FAM111A gene and is allelic to the non-lethal, dominant disorder Kenny-Caffey syndrome (KCS, OMIM #127000). Here we report two new cases of OCS, including one with a detailed pathological examination. We review the main diagnostic signs of OCS both before and after birth based on our observations and on the literature. We then review the current knowledge on the mutational spectrum of FAM111A associated with either OCS or KCS, including three novel variants, both from one of the OCS fetuses described here, and from further cases diagnosed at our centers. This report refines the previous knowledge on OCS and expands the mutational spectrum that results in either OCS or KCS.

Keywords

• osteocraniostenosis (OCS)
• Kenny-Caffey syndrome (KCS)
• <i>FAM111A</i>
• cloverleaf skull
• gracile bone dysplasia
• hypoplastic spleen