[Joubert syndrome: a report of 5 cases]

To review clinical features, radiological findings and prognosis in Joubert syndrome.

We report 5 children (3 male and 2 female) with the diagnosis of Joubert syndrome by clinical and radiological findings. They were diagnosed in the first year of life, in the Hospital Infantil La Paz (Madrid, Spain), from 1971 to 1996. Three patients have already been published, and here, we report two new cases.

Partial absence of the cerebellar vermis, hypotonia and developmental delay were seen in all patients. Other cardinal findings were episodic hyperpnoea (5/5) with periods of apnoea (2/5), abnormal eye movements (2/5) and strabismus (3/5), tongue protrusion (2/5), seizures (1/5), hemifacial spasms (1/5) and occipital meningocele (2/5). Clinical manifestations were first noticed soon after birth. Two patients died in the first 5 years of life, and the rest of the cases actually show severe mental retardation.

Joubert syndrome is a rare and probably underdiagnosed syndrome with bad prognosis. This inherited condition is characterized by agenesis of the cerebellar vermis, mental retardation, hypotonia, episodic hyperpnoea and abnormal eye movements. Additional manifestations have been reported since the original cases were described.