Classic Saethre-Chotzen syndrome (SCS) is characterized by coronal synostosis (unilateral or bilateral), facial asymmetry (particularly in individuals with unicoronal synostosis), strabismus, ptosis, and characteristic appearance of the ear (small pinna with a prominent superior and/or inferior crus). Syndactyly of digits two and three of the hand is variably present. Cognitive development is usually normal, although those with a large genomic deletion are at an increased risk for intellectual challenges. Less common manifestations of SCS include other skeletal findings (parietal foramina, vertebral segmentation defects, radioulnar synostosis, maxillary hypoplasia, ocular hypertelorism, hallux valgus, duplicated or curved distal hallux), hypertelorism, palatal anomalies, obstructive sleep apnea, increased intracranial pressure, short stature, and congenital heart malformations.

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is characterized by progressive microcephaly, early growth deficiency that improves with age, recurrent respiratory infections, an increased risk for malignancy (primarily lymphoma), and premature ovarian failure in females. Developmental milestones are attained at the usual time during the first year; however, borderline delays in development and hyperactivity may be observed in early childhood. Intellectual abilities tend to decline over time. Recurrent pneumonia and bronchitis may result in respiratory failure and early death. Other reported malignancies include solid tumors (e.g., medulloblastoma, glioma, rhabdomyosarcoma).

MED12-related disorders include the phenotypes of FG syndrome type 1 (FGS1), Lujan syndrome (LS), X-linked Ohdo syndrome (XLOS), Hardikar syndrome (HS), and nonspecific intellectual disability (NSID). FGS1 and LS share the clinical findings of cognitive impairment, hypotonia, and abnormalities of the corpus callosum. FGS1 is further characterized by absolute or relative macrocephaly, tall forehead, downslanted palpebral fissures, small and simple ears, constipation and/or anal anomalies, broad thumbs and halluces, and characteristic behavior. LS is further characterized by large head, tall thin body habitus, long thin face, prominent nasal bridge, high narrow palate, and short philtrum. Carrier females in families with FGS1 and LS are typically unaffected. XLOS is characterized by intellectual disability, blepharophimosis, and facial coarsening. HS has been described in females with cleft lip and/or cleft palate, biliary and liver anomalies, intestinal malrotation, pigmentary retinopathy, and coarctation of the aorta. Developmental and cognitive concerns have not been reported in females with HS. Pathogenic variants in MED12 have been reported in an increasing number of males and females with NSID, with affected individuals often having clinical features identified in other MED12-related disorders.

Schilbach-Rott syndrome (SBRS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by hypotelorism, epicanthal folds, cleft palate, dysmorphic facies, and hypospadias in males. The phenotype is variable, and mildly impaired intellectual development has been reported (summary by Shkalim et al., 2009).

X-linked intellectual deficit-cerebellar hypoplasia, also known as OPHN1 syndrome, is a rare syndromic form of cerebellar dysgenesis characterized by moderate to severe intellectual deficit and cerebellar abnormalities.

Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a multisystem disorder with a wide spectrum of clinical variability; this variability is seen even among individuals from the same family. The major clinical manifestations of ALGS are bile duct paucity on liver biopsy, cholestasis, congenital cardiac defects (primarily involving the pulmonary arteries), butterfly vertebrae, ophthalmologic abnormalities (most commonly posterior embryotoxon), and characteristic facial features. Renal abnormalities, growth failure, developmental delays, splenomegaly, and vascular abnormalities may also occur.

This syndrome has characteristics of congenital conductive deafness due to stapes ankylosis, broad thumbs and first toes and hyperopia. So far, it has been described in multiple members of six families. Other skeletal malformations were also reported including short distal phalanges and syndactyly, but symphalangism is usually absent. Transmission is autosomal dominant and the syndrome is caused by mutations in the NOG gene (17q22).

A rare genetic multiple congenital anomalies/dysmorphic syndrome with characteristics of dysmorphic facial features including high forehead, elongated and flattened midface, arched and sparse eyebrows, short palpebral fissures, telecanthus, long nose with hypoplastic nostrils, long philtrum, high and narrow palate and microstomia with downturned corners. Ears are characteristically malformed, large, low-set and posteriorly rotated and nasal speech is associated.

Robinow-Sorauf syndrome is a condition with features similar to those of Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, including craniosynostosis and broad or duplicated great toes. It was once considered a separate disorder, but was found to result from mutations in the same gene and is now thought to be a variant of Saethre-Chotzen syndrome.\n\nThe signs and symptoms of Saethre-Chotzen syndrome vary widely, even among affected individuals in the same family. This condition can cause mild changes in the hands and feet, such as partial fusion of the skin between the second and third fingers on each hand and a broad or duplicated first (big) toe. Delayed development and learning difficulties have been reported, although most people with this condition are of normal intelligence. Less common signs and symptoms of Saethre-Chotzen syndrome include short stature, abnormalities of the bones of the spine (the vertebra), hearing loss, and heart defects.\n\nMost people with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome have prematurely fused skull bones along the coronal suture, the growth line that goes over the head from ear to ear. Other parts of the skull may be malformed as well. These changes can result in an abnormally shaped head, a high forehead, a low frontal hairline, droopy eyelids (ptosis), widely spaced eyes, and a broad nasal bridge. One side of the face may appear noticeably different from the other (facial asymmetry). Most people with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome also have small, rounded ears.\n\nSaethre-Chotzen syndrome is a genetic condition characterized by the premature fusion of certain skull bones (craniosynostosis). This early fusion prevents the skull from growing normally and affects the shape of the head and face.

Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a multisystem disorder with a wide spectrum of clinical variability; this variability is seen even among individuals from the same family. The major clinical manifestations of ALGS are bile duct paucity on liver biopsy, cholestasis, congenital cardiac defects (primarily involving the pulmonary arteries), butterfly vertebrae, ophthalmologic abnormalities (most commonly posterior embryotoxon), and characteristic facial features. Renal abnormalities, growth failure, developmental delays, splenomegaly, and vascular abnormalities may also occur.

SATB2-associated syndrome (SAS) is a multisystem disorder characterized by significant neurodevelopmental compromise with limited to absent speech, behavioral issues, and craniofacial anomalies. All individuals described to date have manifest developmental delay / intellectual disability, with severe speech delay. Affected individuals often have hypotonia and feeding difficulties in infancy. Behavioral issues may include autistic features, hyperactivity, and aggressiveness. Craniofacial anomalies may include palatal abnormalities (cleft palate, high-arched palate, and bifid uvula), micrognathia, and abnormal shape or size of the upper central incisors. Less common features include skeletal anomalies (osteopenia, pectus deformities, kyphosis/lordosis, and scoliosis), growth restriction, strabismus/refractive errors, congenital heart defects, genitourinary anomalies, and epilepsy. While dysmorphic features have been described in individuals with this condition, these features are not typically distinctive enough to allow for a clinical diagnosis of SAS.

Christianson syndrome (referred to as CS in this GeneReview), an X-linked disorder, is characterized in males by cognitive dysfunction, behavioral disorder, and neurologic findings (e.g., seizures, ataxia, postnatal microcephaly, and eye movement abnormalities). Males with CS typically present with developmental delay, later meeting criteria for severe intellectual disability (ID). Behaviorally, autism spectrum disorder and hyperactivity are common, and may resemble the behaviors observed in Angelman syndrome. Hypotonia and oropharyngeal dysphagia in infancy may result in failure to thrive. Seizures, typically beginning before age three years, can include infantile spasms and tonic, tonic-clonic, myoclonic, and atonic seizures. Subsequently, regression (e.g., loss of ambulation and ability to feed independently) may occur. Manifestations in heterozygous females range from asymptomatic to mild ID and/or behavioral issues.

Autosomal recessive form of oculodentodigital dysplasia.

THOC6 intellectual disability syndrome is associated with moderate-to-severe developmental delay or intellectual disability; nonspecific dysmorphic facial features (tall forehead, deep-set eyes, short and upslanted palpebral fissures, epicanthal folds, and long nose with low-hanging columella); microcephaly (typically 2-3 SD below the mean); teeth anomalies (dental caries, malocclusion, and supernumerary teeth); cardiac anomalies (most typically atrial and/or ventricular septal defects); prenatal ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus; cryptorchidism in males; and renal malformations (most commonly unilateral renal agenesis). More rarely, affected individuals may have hypergonadotropic hypogonadism (in females), seizures, poor growth, feeding difficulties, hearing loss, refractive errors and/or other eye abnormalities, vertebral anomalies, micro/retrognathia, and imperforate / anteriorly placed anus.

AP-4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), also known as AP-4 deficiency syndrome, is a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by a progressive, complex spastic paraplegia with onset typically in infancy or early childhood. Early-onset hypotonia evolves into progressive lower-extremity spasticity. The majority of children become nonambulatory and usually wheelchair bound. Over time spasticity progresses to involve the upper extremities, resulting in a spastic tetraplegia. Associated complications include dysphagia, contractures, foot deformities, dysregulation of bladder and bowel function, and a pseudobulbar affect. About 50% of affected individuals have seizures. Postnatal microcephaly (usually in the -2SD to -3SD range) is common. All have developmental delay. Speech development is significantly impaired and many affected individuals remain nonverbal. Intellectual disability in older children is usually moderate to severe.

X-linked intellectual developmental disorder-98 (XLID98) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by delayed psychomotor development, poor speech, behavioral abnormalities, poor overall growth, dysmorphic facial features, and often early-onset seizures. Some carrier females are unaffected, whereas other females with mutations are affected; males tend to be more severely affected than females. It is believed that the phenotypic variability and disease manifestations in female carriers results from skewed X-inactivation or cellular mosaicism (summary by de Lange et al., 2016).

Intellectual developmental disorder with microcephaly and with or without ocular malformations or hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IDDMOH) is characterized by mildly impaired intellectual development and microcephaly. Patients may also have ocular malformations, ocular apraxia, or hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The disorder shows a unique DNA methylation signature (summary by Al-Jawahiri et al., 2022).

Luscan-Lumish syndrome (LLS) is characterized by macrocephaly, intellectual disability, speech delay, low sociability, and behavioral problems. More variable features include postnatal overgrowth, obesity, advanced carpal ossification, developmental delay, and seizures (Luscan et al., 2014; Lumish et al., 2015)

In patients with SSMED, short stature and microcephaly are apparent at birth, and there is progressive postnatal growth failure. Endocrine dysfunction, including hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, multinodular goiter, and diabetes mellitus, is present in affected adults. Progressive ataxia has been reported in some patients, with onset ranging from the second to fifth decade of life. In addition, a few patients have developed tumors, suggesting that there may be a predisposition to tumorigenesis. In contrast to syndromes involving defects in other components of the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) complex (see, e.g., 606593), no clinically overt immunodeficiency has been observed in SSMED, although laboratory analysis has revealed lymphopenia or borderline leukopenia in some patients (Murray et al., 2015; Bee et al., 2015; de Bruin et al., 2015; Guo et al., 2015).

Distal arthrogryposis with impaired proprioception and touch is an autosomal recessive neurologic disorder characterized by loss of certain mechanosensation modalities resulting in ataxia, difficulty walking, dysmetria, muscle weakness and atrophy, and progressive skeletal contractures. Patients have onset of symptoms in early childhood (summary by Chesler et al., 2016 and Delle Vedove et al., 2016).

Hypotrichosis-lymphedema-telangiectasia-renal defect syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by these 4 features, which begin in early childhood and are progressive (summary by Moalem et al., 2015).

Congenital heart defects and skeletal malformations syndrome (CHDSKM) is characterized by atrial and ventricular septal defects, with aortic root dilation in adulthood. Skeletal defects are variable and include pectus excavatum, scoliosis, and finger contractures, and some patients exhibit joint laxity. Failure to thrive is observed during infancy and early childhood (Wang et al., 2017).

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy-95 (DEE95) is a severe autosomal recessive disorder characterized by severely impaired global development, hypotonia, weakness, ataxia, coarse facial features, and intractable seizures. More variable features may include abnormalities of the hands and feet, inguinal hernia, and feeding difficulties. The disorder is part of a group of similar neurologic disorders resulting from biochemical defects in the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthetic pathway (summary by Nguyen et al., 2018). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of DEE, see 308350. For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of GPI biosynthesis defects, see GPIBD1 (610293).

IMAGEI is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia congenita, genital anomalies, and immunodeficiency. Patients exhibit distinctive facial features and variable immune dysfunction with evidence of lymphocyte deficiency (Logan et al., 2018). An autosomal dominant form of the disorder, without immunodeficiency (IMAGE; 614732), is caused by mutation in the CDKN1C gene (600856) on chromosome 11p15.

Neurodevelopmental disorder with brain anomalies, seizures, and scoliosis (NEDBSS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by severely impaired psychomotor development, hypotonia, seizures, and structural brain anomalies, including thin corpus callosum and cerebellar atrophy. Other features include scoliosis, dysmorphic facies, and visual impairment. Affected individuals are usually unable to walk or speak and may require tube feeding in severe cases. The disorder is caused by a defect in glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthesis (summary by Knaus et al., 2019). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of GPI biosynthesis defects, see GPIBD1 (610293).

Short stature, facial dysmorphism, and skeletal anomalies with or without cardiac anomalies-2 (SSFSC2) is characterized by thin and short long bones, distinctive facial dysmorphism, and dental and skeletal abnormalities, in the absence of developmental delay or intellectual disability. Cardiac anomalies have been reported in some patients (Lin et al., 2021). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of SSFSC, see SSFSC1 (617877).

Neurodevelopmental-craniofacial syndrome with variable renal and cardiac abnormalities (NECRC) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by dysmorphic craniofacial features associated with mild developmental delay, mildly impaired intellectual development or learning difficulties, speech delay, and behavioral abnormalities. About half of patients have congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) and/or congenital cardiac defects, including septal defects (Connaughton et al., 2020).

X-linked epilepsy-2 with or without impaired intellectual development and dysmorphic features (EPILX2) is a neurologic disorder characterized by the onset of seizures usually in the first years of life, although later onset may also occur. Most individuals also have developmental delay, speech delay, and intellectual disability or learning difficulties. Some patients have dysmorphic facial features or mild skeletal anomalies. The severity of the disorder and accompanying features are highly variable, even within the same family. In general, males are more severely affected than females, although there is evidence for incomplete penetrance in both sexes (Niturad et al., 2017).

Neurodevelopmental disorder with intention tremor, pyramidal signs, dyspraxia, and ocular anomalies (NEDITPO) is an autosomal recessive multiple congenital anomaly syndrome characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability, dysmorphic facial features, intention tremor, dyspraxia, and vertical strabismus (Rahikkala et al., 2022).

Neurodevelopmental disorder with growth retardation, dysmorphic facies, and corpus callosum abnormalities (NEDGFC) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by these cardinal features apparent from infancy. There is phenotypic variability both in disease manifestations and severity. More severely affected individuals are unable to walk independently, are nonverbal, and may have other anomalies, including congenital heart defects, feeding difficulties, or skeletal defects, whereas others show mildly delayed motor and speech acquisition with mild or borderline intellectual disability (summary by von Elsner et al., 2022).

Neurodevelopmental disorder with hypotonia, dysmorphic facies, and skeletal anomalies, with or without seizures (NEDFSS), is characterized by these features and global developmental delay with delayed or absent walking, moderate to severely impaired intellectual development, and poor or absent speech acquisition. Affected individuals may also have behavioral abnormalities. About half of patients develop various types of seizures that are usually well-controlled with medication. Rare patients are noted to have heat intolerance or insensitivity to pain (Lines et al., 2022).

Autosomal dominant intellectual developmental disorder-73 (MRD73) is a highly variable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired intellectual development that ranges from mild to severe, speech delay, behavioral abnormalities, and nonspecific dysmorphic facial features (Janssen et al., 2022).