Twelve cases with hemihypertrophy: etiology and follow up

Twelve patients with hemihypertrophy are described. All but one are sporadic cases. The parents were unrelated. Family and pregnancy histories are otherwise unremarkable in all cases. Diagnosis was always performed at birth or in the weeks following birth. There were 5 boys and 7 girls including one mother and her daughter. Hemihypertrophy was localized to the upper limb in one case and to the lower limb in one case. One patient had some features of Mc Cune Albright syndrome. Hemihypertrophy was associated with Silver-Russel syndrome in two patients. In all other cases hemihypertrophy was idiopathic. Mental and motor development were normal in all cases, as was puberty. During growth the body asymmetry was unchanged. Orthopedic problems complicated growth in some cases. The most obvious of these problems was scoliosis. Limb lengthening was necessary in 2 cases. One of our patients developed an abdominal tumor. One of our patients had two normal children. Hemihypertrophy is usually not inherited. However, the mother of one of our patients also had hemihypertrophy.