Cardiovascular anomaly in Rieger Syndrome: heterogeneity or contiguity?

Rieger Syndrome (RS) is an autosomal dominant disease, in which Axenfeld's and Rieger's anomalies are associated with typical facial dysmorphism and other extra-ocular findings. Cardiovascular defects are considered an occasional finding in this syndrome.

We describe a RS case in which the typical ocular and dysmorphic features were associated with bicuspid aortic valve. A review of the literature is provided.

A total of 15 other cases of Axenfeld's or Rieger's anomaly associated with cardiovascular defects have been reported. In the cases in which the diagnosis of RS could be clinically performed, the cardiac defect mostly involved the outflow tract structures.

The hypothesis that this association could be non-coincidental is discussed. The proved genetic heterogeneity of RS, based on clinical and molecular evidence, may suggest that RS is a contiguous gene syndrome or RS with cardiac defect is a separate entity. Finally we suggest a careful cardiological evaluation in RS patients, to assess the real frequency of cardiac defects in this syndrome.