Clinical Description
To date, more than 150 individuals with an X-OPD syndrome spectrum disorder have been identified with a pathogenic variant in FLNA [Robertson et al 2003, Robertson et al 2006a, Robertson et al 2006b]. The following description of the phenotypic features associated with this condition is based on these reports.
Table 4.
Features of X-Linked Otopalatodigital Spectrum Disorders
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Disorder | Features | % of Persons with Feature |
---|
OPD1 in males
| Digital anomalies | 100% |
Deafness | 100% |
Mild limb bowing | Unknown |
Cleft Palate | 75% |
OPD2 in males
| Thoracic hypoplasia | 100% |
Cleft palate | 80% |
FMD1 in males
| Supraorbital hyperostosis | 100% |
Urinary Tract obstruction | Unknown |
MNS in females
| Micrognathia | 100% |
Limb bowing | 100% |
Short stature | 100% |
Thoracic hypoplasia | 100% |
TODPD in females
| Digital fibromata | 100% |
Erosive changes on radiographs | 100% |
Limb bowing | Unknown |
FMD1 = frontometaphyseal dysplasia type 1; MNS = Melnick-Needles syndrome; OPD1 = otopalatodigital syndrome type 1; OPD2 = otopalatodigital syndrome type 2; TODPD = terminal osseous dysplasia with pigmentary skin defects
Little is known about the natural history of the X-linked otopalatodigital (X-OPD) spectrum disorders. All manifestations can begin in childhood in both sexes.
In males, the spectrum of severity ranges from mild manifestations in otopalatodigital syndrome type 1 (OPD1) to a more severe presentation in frontometaphyseal dysplasia type 1 (FMD1) and otopalatodigital syndrome type 2 (OPD2). Prenatal lethality is the only clinical phenotype described in males with Melnick-Needles syndrome (MNS) [Spencer et al 2018].
Females exhibit variable expressivity. In OPD1, females can present with similar severity to affected males. In contrast, some females have only the mildest of manifestations [Gorlin et al 1973]. In OPD2 and FMD1, females are less severely affected than related affected males [Robertson et al 1997, Moutton et al 2016].
OPD1
Most manifestations are evident at birth. Nothing reported in the literature suggests any late-onset orthopedic complications, reduction in longevity, or reduction in fertility.
Males with OPD1 present with the following:
A skeletal dysplasia manifest clinically by:
Digital anomalies including short, often proximally placed thumbs with hypoplasia of the distal phalanges. The distal phalanges of the other digits can also be hypoplastic with a squared (or "spatulate") disposition to the finger tips. The toes present a characteristic pattern of hypoplasia of the great toe, a long second toe, and a prominent sandal gap.
Limitation of joint movement (elbow extension, wrist abduction) in almost all affected individuals
Limbs that may exhibit mild bowing
Mildly reduced final height in some, although individuals have been characterized with pathogenic variants in FLNA and stature greater than the 90th percentile. Pubertal development and intelligence is normal in affected individuals.
Characteristic facial features (prominent supraorbital ridges, downslanted palpebral fissures, widely spaced eyes, wide nasal bridge and broad nasal tip)
Deafness (secondary either to ossicular malformation, neurosensory deficit, or a combination of both). The conductive hearing loss can be caused by fused and misshapen ossicles; attempts to separate the ossicles are usually unsuccessful and can lead to formation of a perilymphatic gusher.
Cleft palate
Oligohypodontia
Normal intelligence
Females with OPD1 exhibit variable expressivity. Some females can manifest a phenotype similar to that of affected, related males. Females may develop conductive or neurosensory hearing loss. Note: One cannot confidently differentiate OPD1 from OPD2 in a single affected female in a family with no affected males [Moutton et al 2016].
OPD2
Males with OPD2 present with the following [André et al 1981, Fitch et al 1983]:
A skeletal dysplasia manifest clinically as:
Thoracic hypoplasia
Bowed long bones
Short stature
Digital anomalies (most commonly: hypoplasia of the first digit of the hands and feet or absent halluces, camptodactyly)
Delayed closure of the fontanelles
Scoliosis (occasional)
Characteristic craniofacial features similar to but more pronounced than those in OPD1. Pierre Robin sequence is commonly observed.
Sensorineural and conductive deafness (common)
Cardiac septal defects and obstructive lesions to the right ventricular outflow tract in some affected individuals
Developmental delay (common)
Death commonly in the neonatal period as a result of respiratory insufficiency. Survival into the third year of life has been described with intensive medical treatment [
Verloes et al 2000].
Females with OPD2 usually present with a subclinical phenotype. Characteristic craniofacial features (prominent supraorbital ridges, wide nasal bridge and a broad nasal tip) are the most common findings. Occasionally, conductive hearing loss has been described. Occasionally, females can manifest a phenotype similar in severity to that of males (craniofacial dysmorphism, cleft palate, conductive hearing loss, skeletal and digital anomalies). Note: One cannot confidently differentiate OPD1 from OPD2 in a single affected female in a family with no affected males.
Melnick-Needles Syndrome
Substantial variability is observed in females. Some individuals are diagnosed in adulthood after ascertainment of an affected family member [Kristiansen et al 2002]. Others require substantial respiratory support; several individuals have required ambulatory oxygen supplementation, typically starting in the second decade. Longevity is reduced in these individuals.
The phenotype of four males with a pathogenic variant known to lead to conventional MNS in females has been reported. These individuals have previously described skeletal (flexed upper limbs, hypoplastic thumbs, post-axial polydactyly, bowed lower limbs, clubfeet, kyphoscoliosis and hypoplastic halluces), craniofacial (large fontanelles, malar flattening, bilateral cleft palate, bifid tongue, severe micrognathia), and visceral (fibrosis of pancreas and spleen, bilateral cystic renal dysplasia secondary to obstructive uropathy and omphalocele) findings and unusual ophthalmologic signs (exophthalmia, widely spaced eyes, sclerocornea, cataracts, retinal angiomatosis, and a cleavage defect of the anterior chambers of both eyes) [Santos et al 2010, Naudion et al 2016, Spencer et al 2018].
Males with MNS usually present with a phenotype that is indistinguishable from, or more severe than, that associated with OPD2. Several women with classic MNS have had affected male pregnancies diagnosed in utero with a lethal phenotype reminiscent of a severe form of OPD2 [Santos et al 2010, Naudion et al 2016, Spencer et al 2018].
Females with MNS present with the following:
A skeletal dysplasia characterized by:
Characteristic craniofacial features (prominent lateral margins of the supraorbital ridges, proptosis, full cheeks, micrognathia, facial asymmetry) [
Foley et al 2010]
Oligohypodontia (frequent)
Sensorineural and conductive deafness (common)
Hydronephrosis secondary to ureteric obstruction (common)
Normal intelligence
Normal pubertal development
Terminal Osseous Dysplasia with Pigmentary Defects
The natural history for females with terminal osseous dysplasia with pigmentary skin defects (TODPD) has been documented in one large family [Brunetti-Pierri et al 2010]. A male presentation of TODPD has never been described.
Females exhibit pronounced abnormalities of the face, hands, and skin:
The major skeletal findings are in the hands. There is variable shortening, fusion, and disorganized ossification of the carpals and metacarpals. Camptodactyly can be marked and forms no clear pattern. Additional features include cystic lesions and bowing of the long bones, radial head dislocation, short stature, and scoliosis.
Digital fibromata appear in infancy, can grow to a large size, and may re-grow after excision – but eventually involute before age ten years.
Cardiac septal defects
Ureteric obstruction (occasional)
Alopecia is a variable clinical finding.
The most characteristic craniofacial findings are widely spaced eyes, oral frenulae, and punched out hyperpigmented lesions characteristically over the temporal region. Unlike the fibromata they do not involute with age.
Normal intelligence
A male presentation of TODPD has never been described and an excess of early miscarriage in affected females has been recorded but not statistically verified.
Nomenclature
Melnick-Needles syndrome was originally referred to as osteodysplasty.
OPD1 was also called Taybi syndrome after its first description in 1963.
Verloes et al [2000] suggested the term "fronto-otopalatodigital osteodysplasia" for the X-OPD spectrum disorders, indicative of his prediction that they would prove allelic to one another, which subsequently proved correct. This term has not gained acceptance because some of these disorders are clinically discrete, and therefore diagnosis, management, and prognostication are not served by aggregating them under one term.