St. Helena familial genu valgum

Hereditary pubertal genu valgum in Iran

Two male offspring of a healthy father in Galaz, a remote village in Northwest Iran, were noted to show severe asymmetric genu valgum, with 57 and 82 degrees angulation and dysplasia of the lateral femoral condyle, together with adaptive biomechanical changes of the ankle alignment. Three of the five male offspring of a second marriage who have reached puberty also show variable degrees of genu valgum, increasing with growth. The intermalleolar distance in the affected sons aged 16, 15, and 12 measured 21, 16, and 14 cm, respectively, before epiphysodesis. None of the six female offspring from either marriage, and neither of the two sons under the age of 11 from the second marriage show any skeletal deformity. All members of the family are otherwise mentally and physically normal. It is possible that this genu valgum may be due to a new autosomal dominant mutation which probably occurred in the gonads of the unaffected father. The condition shows an onset age of 11 and appears to have a sex-limited expression.

Spondylo-metaphyseal dysplasia Algerian type: confirmation of a new syndrome

We report on a further case of a recently described type of spondylo-metaphyseal dysplasia in a 12(10/12)-year-old Polish boy. The original paper described the disorder in five relatives in an Algerian family.