Helsmoortel-Van der Aa Syndrome as emerging clinical diagnosis in intellectually disabled children with autistic traits and ocular involvement. (May 2018) - Pascolini, Giulia
Abstract: A recent syndromic condition with craniofacial dysmorphisms, comprising congenital ocular defect and neurodevelopmental delay named Helsmoortel-Van der Aa Syndrome (HVDAS) (OMIM#615873 ), has been described and molecularly defined, identifying pathogenic mutations in the ADNP gene (OMIM#611386 ) as biological cause. We report on two children, displaying intellectual disability (ID) and peculiar congenital eyes anomalies, both carrying a de novo nonsense mutation in the ADNP gene. The review of present and literature reports, suggests that the diagnosis of HVDAS should be suspected in patients with ID accompanied by behavioral features in the Autism Spectrum Disorder and distinctive craniofacial phenotype. Among dysmorphisms due to malformation of the periorbital region, ptosis appears to be particularly recurrent in HVDAS. Furthermore, the present patients could support the inclusion of the HVDAS associated with specific mutations clustering within a small ADNP genomic region among clinical conditions reminiscent of the blepharophimosis/mental retardation syndromes (BMRS). Highlights: Two additional patients with a recently identified syndromic form of intellectual disability (ID) with autistic traits (Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome, HVDAS) (OMIM#615873 ), are described. Ocular involvement associated with ID, could suggest clinical resemblance with blepharophimosis-mental retardation Syndromes (BMRS). HVDAS could be suspected in intellectually disabled children displaying malformed eyes and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).