Pathological fractures in spondyloenchondrodysplasia: case report

Spondyloenchondrodysplasia with spasticity, cerebral calcifications, and immune dysregulation: clinical and radiographic delineation of a pleiotropic disorder

Enchondromas are a feature of several constitutional disorders of bone, and the classification of different nosologic entities is still provisional. Among these disorders, spondyloenchondrodysplasia (SPENCD), as outlined by Schorr et al. [1976], is defined by the presence of radiolucent spondylar and metaphyseal lesions that represent persistence of islands of chondroid tissue within bone. Careful review of radiographic findings is needed to distinguish SPENCD from the many other disorders combining enchondromas with spinal lesions. Even when strict criteria are applied, it appears that SPENCD is clinically heterogeneous, as some SPENCD patients are neurologically intact while others present with spasticity, mental retardation, and cerebral calcifications in different combinations, and it has been suggested that SPENCD should be divided in two types. We herein report ten individuals from six families with SPENCD and illustrate the radiographic changes. Seven individuals had CNS manifestations including spasticity, developmental delay, and late-onset cerebral calcifications. We also noted that six individuals had clinical manifestations of autoimmunity (auto-immune thrombocytopenic purpura, auto-immune hemolytic anemia, auto-immune thyroiditis, and SLE) and one had been diagnosed with immune deficiency. Neurological and autoimmune manifestations were seen in different combinations within one single family. These observations suggest that SPENCD may be a single entity defined by specific radiographic features, but with remarkably pleiotropic manifestations that include CNS disease (spasticity, mental retardation, and calcifications), as well as immune dysregulation ranging from autoimmunity to immunodeficiency. The notion of recessive inheritance hitherto assumed is challenged by the observation of two apparently dominant pedigrees.

Spondyloenchondrodysplasia: clinical variability in three cases

Spondyloenchondrodysplasia is a very rare skeletal dysplasia in which multiple enchondromata exist in the metaphyses of the long bones with platyspondyly. We present three patients (two of them are sibs) with spondyloenchondrodysplasia. The first patient was a 10-year-old boy, who had short stature and enchondromatous-like lesions in the metaphyses of the long bones and platyspondyly on radiography. His older sister (21-years old) had received growth hormone therapy 12 years earlier due to short stature, and her radiological findings were similar but milder than her brother. Both the sibs had normal intelligence and no calcification of the basal ganglia. The third patient was a 6-year-old boy who had short stature, mental retardation, enchondromatous-like lesions in the metaphyses of the long bones and platyspondyly. His cranial BT showed calcification of basal ganglia. The findings of the two sibs in the first family were compatible with spondyloenchondrodysplasia. The difference in clinical severity between the siblings shows the variability within the family. The third case with mental retardation and the presence of intracranial calcifications is compatible with spondyloenchondrodysplasia with basal ganglia calcification. In conclusion, we suggest that family screening and cranial imaging for the presence of intracranial calcifications should be considered in every patient with the diagnosis of spondyloenchondrodysplasia.