A severe form of congenital contractural arachnodactyly in two newborn infants.

Congenital contractural arachnodactyly (CCA) is an uncommon condition characterized by arachnodactyly, dolichostenomelia, kyphoscoliosis, "crumpled" auricles, and flexion contractures at knees, elbows, fingers, and sometimes other joints. The long-term prognosis for affected individuals is usually relatively good. We report on two newborn infants with severe CCA, both of whom died in the first year of life. One child also had other anomalies not generally associated with this disorder. These observations are consistent with the possibility that CCA is an etiologically and clinically heterogeneous disorder.