Gingival overgrowth, congenital generalized hypertrichosis, mental retardation and epilepsy: case report and overview

We report on a patient with congenital generalized hypertrichosis, mental retardation, tonic-clonic seizures with onset during the first year of life and gingival overgrowth, unrelated to antiepileptic treatment. This phenotype represents a unique combination of features, bridging the variable association of gingival overgrowth, generalized hypertrichosis, mental retardation or epilepsy. This may occur in combination with nail and/or digital anomalies, as in Zimmermann-Laband syndrome, and the broader phenotypes of the Anavi, Göhlich-Ratmann and Ramon syndromes. On the basis of the clinical overlap between our patient and these disorders inherited either as autosomal dominant or recessive traits and unknown molecular defects, a recurrence risk of one in four was considered appropriate.