Children who age rapidly--progeroid syndromes: case report of a new variant

A case report of an apparently unique progeroid syndrome is reported here. Major clinical characteristics included growth failure with onset of senility in the early teens, atrophic skin, hypogonadism, and retinal and vascular sclerosis. Mental retardation was present, but could have been attributable to trauma. The replicative life spans of several lines of cultured skin fibroblasts were within the normal range, in contrast to the limited life-spans of such cultures from patients with Werner's syndrome, whom our patient most closely resembles. Also, in contrast to Werner's syndrome, our patient did not have white or gray hair or cataracts.