Central nervous system alterations in a case of short-rib polydactyly syndrome, Majewski type

The authors present a case of CNS abnormalities in a female newborn infant with Majewski syndrome. On examination the gyri were found to be normal, but there was narrowing of the corpus callosum and fornix, and dilated ventricles. A vermis hypoplasia and an arachnoid cyst were found between the cerebellar hemispheres. Cross-section of the cervical and thoracic segments revealed a flattened spinal cord in the sagittal section. There were reactive astrocytes and heterotopic ganglion cells in the white matter and isolated hypoxically damaged nerve-cells in the subiculum and nuclear masses of the brainstem. These findings are discussed with reference to the literature.