[Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome]

The von Hippel-Lindau syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition that comprises, apart from angiomas of the retina, the cerebellum, the spinal cord, and the cerebrum, also cystic and blastomatous dysplasias resulting from maldevelopment, namely cystic kidney and pancreas, hypernephroma, and pheochromocytoma. Early observers of the syndrome were the English neurologist John Hughlings Jackson (1872) and the German ophthalmologist Hugo Magnus (1874). The typical association of angiomas of the retina with the cerebellum was first described in 1905 by the Prague ophthalmologist Wilhelm Czermak, long before Lindau (1926). The fact that hypernephromas and pheochromocytomas may form parts of it characterizes the syndrome as a polyneoplastic hereditary disease and the sufferers as members of families at risk. Since the ophthalmologist is often the first to recognize this disease by direct inspection of the fundi, he is responsible for ensuring proper medical care for the affected person and his or her entire family.