[Spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia associated with craniosynostosis, cleft palate and mental retardation. A case report].

Skeletal dysplasias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by an alteration of the organization of osseous tissue causing a distortion on the growth and development pattern of bones. In 1998, four Japanese sibs were described by the first time, three males and one female who presented a previously undescribed spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia associated with craniosynostosis, cataracts, cleft palate and different grades of mental retardation. A probable autosomic recessive inheritance was suggested, but a germinal mosaicism could not be discarded. This is a case report of a patient with clinical and radiological findings similar to the ones previously described, born to second degree consanguineous parents. This supports the postulated presumption of a mutation with an autosomic recessive inheritance. The present communication represents the fifth case reported in the literature and the second familiar group affected.