Benign form of congenital angulation of long bones associated with shortening of soft tissues
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Published on: July 15, 2014
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
Insights
This study describes a benign congenital bone condition causing limb shortening and angulation, improving with age. It highlights a distinct phenotype potentially inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Genetics
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Congenital angulation of long bones is a rare condition.
- Distinguishing between different subtypes of bent bone dysplasia is crucial for diagnosis and management.
Observation:
- A cohort of seven patients (3 male, 4 female) presented with short-limb short stature and congenital multiple angulation deformities.
- Patients exhibited similar angulation patterns, accelerated skeletal maturation, and specific physical findings like limited ankle dorsiflexion and reduced skin creases.
Findings:
- The observed phenotype, characterized by benign congenital angulation of long bones with soft tissue shortening, is distinct from previously described bent bone dysplasias.
- Key features include improvement of deformities with age, lack of epimetaphyseal lesions, and specific joint/skin findings.
- An autosomal recessive inheritance pattern is suggested for this subtype.
Implications:
- This research expands the understanding of skeletal dysplasias.
- It provides a basis for further genetic investigation into congenital angulation disorders.
- Accurate diagnosis can guide appropriate clinical management and genetic counseling.
Abstract:
We report a benign form of congenital angulation of long bones associated with shortening of soft tissues. The patients were three males and four females including two siblings. The average age at first examination was 6 months (range, 1-17 months) and that at the time of follow-up was 7 years (range, 13 months-11 years). The characteristics were short-limb type short stature, congenital multiple angulation deformities of the long bones of both upper and lower extremities, with almost the same angulation directions for all the patients and improvement of the deformities with age. There was also accelerated skeletal maturation, lack of epi-metaphyseal lesions, skin dimples, limitation of the ankle joint dorsiflexion, and inconspicuousness of skin creases on the flexor side of the elbow and knee. This phenotype is not consistent with any of the bent bone dysplasia group. Caffey's report [Caffey J (1947). Am J Dis Child 74:543-5621 included two different subtypes of bent bones, round bowing and sharp angulation, and the latter are similar to this report. However, Caffey's cases lack limitation of ankle dorsiflexion and reduced skin creases. An autosomal recessive mode of inheritance could be present in this subtype.
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