MedGen

Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome is primarily an eye disorder, although it can also affect other parts of the body. This condition is characterized by abnormalities of the front part of the eye, an area known as the anterior segment. For example, the colored part of the eye (the iris), may be thin or poorly developed. The iris normally has a single central hole, called the pupil, through which light enters the eye. People with Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome often have a pupil that is off-center (corectopia) or extra holes in the iris that can look like multiple pupils (polycoria). This condition can also cause abnormalities of the cornea, which is the clear front covering of the eye.

About half of affected individuals develop glaucoma, a serious condition that increases pressure inside the eye. When glaucoma occurs with Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome, it most often develops in late childhood or adolescence, although it can occur as early as infancy. Glaucoma can cause vision loss or blindness.

Researchers have described at least three types of Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome. The types, which are numbered 1 through 3, are distinguished by their genetic cause.

The signs and symptoms of Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome can also affect other parts of the body. Many affected individuals have distinctive facial features such as widely spaced eyes (hypertelorism); a flattened mid-face with a broad, flat nasal bridge; and a prominent forehead. The condition is also associated with dental abnormalities including unusually small teeth (microdontia) or fewer than normal teeth (oligodontia). Some people with Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome have extra folds of skin around their belly button (redundant periumbilical skin). Other, less common features can include heart defects, the opening of the urethra on the underside of the penis (hypospadias), narrowing of the anus (anal stenosis), and abnormalities of the pituitary gland that can result in slow growth. [from MedlinePlus Genetics]

Congenital muscular dystrophy-dystroglycanopathy with brain and eye anomalies (type A), which includes both the more severe Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS) and the slightly less severe muscle-eye-brain disease (MEB), is an autosomal recessive disorder with characteristic brain and eye malformations, profound mental retardation, congenital muscular dystrophy, and death usually in the first years of life. It represents the most severe end of a phenotypic spectrum of similar disorders resulting from defective glycosylation of DAG1 (128239), collectively known as 'dystroglycanopathies' (Godfrey et al., 2007). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of muscular dystrophy-dystroglycanopathy type A, see MDDGA1 (236670). [from OMIM]

Anterior segment dysgeneses are a heterogeneous group of developmental disorders affecting the anterior segment of the eye, including the cornea, iris, lens, trabecular meshwork, and Schlemm canal. The clinical features of ASGD include iris hypoplasia, an enlarged or reduced corneal diameter, corneal vascularization and opacity, posterior embryotoxon, corectopia, polycoria, an abnormal iridocorneal angle, ectopia lentis, and anterior synechiae between the iris and posterior corneal surface (summary by Cheong et al., 2016). Anterior segment dysgenesis is sometimes divided into subtypes, including aniridia (see 106210), Axenfeld and Rieger anomalies, iridogoniodysgenesis, Peters anomaly, and posterior embryotoxon (Gould and John, 2002). Some patients with ASGD2 have been reported with a congenital primary aphakia subtype. Congenital primary aphakia is a rare developmental disorder characterized by absence of the lens, the development of which is normally induced during the fourth to fifth week of human embryogenesis. This original failure leads, in turn, to complete aplasia of the anterior segment of the eye, which is the diagnostic histologic criterion for CPAK. In contrast, in secondary aphakia, lens induction occurs and the lens vesicle develops to some degree, but is progressively resorbed perinatally, resulting in less severe ocular defects (summary by Valleix et al., 2006). [from OMIM]

Weill-Marchesani syndrome (WMS) is a connective tissue disorder characterized by abnormalities of the lens of the eye, short stature, brachydactyly, joint stiffness, and cardiovascular defects. The ocular problems, typically recognized in childhood, include microspherophakia (small spherical lens), myopia secondary to the abnormal shape of the lens, ectopia lentis (abnormal position of the lens), and glaucoma, which can lead to blindness. Height of adult males is 142-169 cm; height of adult females is 130-157 cm. Autosomal recessive WMS cannot be distinguished from autosomal dominant WMS by clinical findings alone. [from GeneReviews]

Anterior segment dysgeneses (ASGD or ASMD) are a heterogeneous group of developmental disorders affecting the anterior segment of the eye, including the cornea, iris, lens, trabecular meshwork, and Schlemm canal. The clinical features of ASGD include iris hypoplasia, an enlarged or reduced corneal diameter, corneal vascularization and opacity, posterior embryotoxon, corectopia, polycoria, an abnormal iridocorneal angle, ectopia lentis, and anterior synechiae between the iris and posterior corneal surface (summary by Cheong et al., 2016). Anterior segment dysgenesis is sometimes divided into subtypes including aniridia (see 106210), Axenfeld and Rieger anomalies, iridogoniodysgenesis, Peters anomaly, and posterior embryotoxon (Gould and John, 2002). Patients with ASGD6 have been reported with the Peters anomaly subtype. Peters anomaly consists of corneal opacity, defects in the posterior structures of the cornea, and iridocorneal and/or keratolenticular adhesions. Over 50% of patients develop glaucoma in childhood (summary by Vincent et al., 2001). [from OMIM]

Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV), also termed 'persistent fetal vasculature,' is a developmental malformation of the eye in which the primary vitreous fails to regress in utero, resulting in the presence of a retrolental fibrovascular membrane with persistence of the posterior portion of the tunica vasculosa lentis and hyaloid artery. This abnormality is usually unilateral and associated with microphthalmia, cataract, glaucoma, and congenital retinal nonattachment (see Haddad et al., 1978; Khaliq et al., 2001; Prasov et al., 2012). PHPV shares phenotypic overlap with Norrie disease (310600). Genetic Heterogeneity of Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous A dominant form of PHPV has been described (PHPVAD; 611308). [from OMIM]

Oculoauricular syndrome (OCACS) is characterized by complex ocular anomalies, including congenital cataract, anterior segment dysgenesis, iris coloboma, and early-onset retinal dystrophy, and dysplastic ears with abnormal external ear cartilage (summary by Gillespie et al., 2015). [from OMIM]

Retinal dystrophy and iris coloboma with or without cataract (RDICC) is characterized by early-onset chorioretinal dystrophy that is variably associated with other eye anomalies, including iris coloboma and/or congenital or early-onset cataract. Congenital glaucoma has also been observed (Conte et al., 2015; Jedlickova et al., 2023). [from OMIM]

Adhesions between the iris and the lens. [from HPO]