Osteopathia striata, short stature, and characteristic facies: a previously unknown skeletal dysplasia

We report two sporadic cases of a hitherto undescribed skeletal dysplasia with short stature and characteristic facies. The present patients, a 6-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, were almost equally affected. Craniofacial anomalies included a sloping forehead, bitemporal bulging, sparse medial eyebrows, a prominent nasal bridge, hypertelorism, proptosis, a beaked nose, hypoplastic alae nasi and a pointed chin. Shallow orbits, short anterior cranial fossae and bitemporal bossing found on skull radiograph corresponded with the facial dysmorphism. Thickening of the dorsum sellae was another hallmark in the skull. Skeletal survey revealed mild osteopenia, interpediculate narrowing of the lumbar spine with short neural arches and, most important, osteopathia striata of the long tubular bones. There was no sclerosis of the craniofacial bones. The clinical and radiological findings in the present patients were overall inconsistent with those of previously known skeletal dysplasias and congenital malformation syndromes, which possess osteopathia striata as a cardinal feature.

The unique clinical and radiological constellation of our patients constitutes a hitherto unknown bone dysplasia.