Eccrine sweat gland anatomy in cockayne syndrome: a possible diagnostic aid

Cockayne syndrome is an autosomal recessive disease, which includes as major features motor and mental retardation (beginning in the second year), microcephaly, ataxia, retinal degeneration and pigmentation, cataracts, progeroid features, intracranial calcification, hypogonadism, and growth retardation. Many other diseases have some of these features, so that diagnosis of Cockayne syndrome can be difficult, especially in younger children. Eccrine sweat glands were microdissected from autopsy or biopsy specimens from patients with Cockayne syndrome, and mean values for duct length, secretory coil volume, ratio of coil volume to duct length, and axis ratio of the secretory coil were determined. In comparison with values for eccrine glands of patients with no known genetic or chromosomal disease, eccrine glands in Cockayne syndrome are abnormally small for age. Whether other diseases with various similarities to Cockayne syndrome produce similar growth abnormality of eccrine sweat glands is not known, but determination of sweat gland size may provide data suggesting or supporting the diagnosis of Cockayne syndrome.