Congenital scalp defects with distal limb anomalies (Adams-Oliver syndrome): report of ten cases and review of the literature.

We describe one family with 5 affected persons in 4 generations, another family with 2 affected brothers and 3 sporadic cases of the rare syndrome of congenital scalp defects with distal limb deficiency. The manifestations of this syndrome are highly variable. Review of the literature showed 11 families and 19 sporadic cases. In most families the disorder clearly follows an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, but in some families with reduced penetrance. Important differential diagnoses are the syndrome of scalp defect and postaxial polydactyly, the syndrome of scalp defect and split-hand defect, amniotic band sequence, and epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica type Bart.