MedGen

A rare disorder characterized by the partial separation of the cerebral hemispheres. It is associated with mutations in the SIX3 gene. [from NCI]

Oculofaciocardiodental (OFCD) syndrome is a condition that affects the development of the eyes (oculo-), facial features (facio-), heart (cardio-) and teeth (dental). This condition occurs only in females.

The eye abnormalities associated with OFCD syndrome can affect one or both eyes. Many people with this condition are born with eyeballs that are abnormally small (microphthalmia). Other eye problems can include clouding of the lens (cataract) and a higher risk of glaucoma, an eye disease that increases the pressure in the eye. These abnormalities can lead to vision loss or blindness.

People with OFCD syndrome often have a long, narrow face with distinctive facial features, including deep-set eyes and a broad nasal tip that is divided by a cleft. Some affected people have an opening in the roof of the mouth called a cleft palate.

Heart defects are another common feature of OFCD syndrome. Babies with this condition may be born with a hole between two chambers of the heart (an atrial or ventricular septal defect) or a leak in one of the valves that controls blood flow through the heart (mitral valve prolapse).

Teeth with very large roots (radiculomegaly) are characteristic of OFCD syndrome. Additional dental abnormalities can include delayed loss of primary (baby) teeth, missing or abnormally small teeth, misaligned teeth, and defective tooth enamel. [from MedlinePlus Genetics]

Stickler syndrome is a connective tissue disorder that can include ocular findings of myopia, cataract, and retinal detachment; hearing loss that is both conductive and sensorineural; midfacial underdevelopment and cleft palate (either alone or as part of the Robin sequence); and mild spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia and/or precocious arthritis. Variable phenotypic expression of Stickler syndrome occurs both within and among families; interfamilial variability is in part explained by locus and allelic heterogeneity. [from GeneReviews]

A rare genetic optic nerve disorder characterized by visual impairment or blindness resulting from varying degrees of underdevelopment of the optic nerve or even complete absence of the optic nerve, ganglion cells, and central retinal vessels. It may be unilateral, typically with otherwise normal brain development, or bilateral with accompanying severe and widespread congenital malformations of the central nervous system. [from ORDO]

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 alpha-dystroglycan (DAG1; 128239), collectively known as 'dystroglycanopathies' (summary by Roscioli et al., 2012). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of muscular dystrophy-dystroglycanopathy type A, see MDDGA1 (236670). [from OMIM]

Pierson syndrome (PIERS) is an autosomal recessive disorder comprising congenital nephrotic syndrome with diffuse mesangial sclerosis and distinct ocular abnormalities, including microcoria and hypoplasia of the ciliary and pupillary muscles, as well as other anomalies. Many patients die early, and those who survive tend to show neurodevelopmental delay and visual loss (summary by Zenker et al., 2004). Mutations in the LAMB2 gene also cause nephrotic syndrome type 5 with or without mild ocular anomalies (NPHS5; 614199). [from OMIM]

Coloboma is an eye abnormality that occurs before birth. Colobomas are missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye. They may appear as notches or gaps in one of several parts of the eye, including the colored part of the eye called the iris; the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye; the blood vessel layer under the retina called the choroid; or the optic nerves, which carry information from the eyes to the brain.

Colobomas may be present in one or both eyes and, depending on their size and location, can affect a person's vision. Colobomas affecting the iris, which result in a "keyhole" appearance of the pupil, generally do not lead to vision loss. Colobomas involving the retina result in vision loss in specific parts of the visual field. Large retinal colobomas or those affecting the optic nerve can cause low vision, which means vision loss that cannot be completely corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

Some people with coloboma also have a condition called microphthalmia. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small. In some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition called anophthalmia, in which no eyeball forms at all. However, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss.

People with coloboma may also have other eye abnormalities, including clouding of the lens of the eye (cataract), increased pressure inside the eye (glaucoma) that can damage the optic nerve, vision problems such as nearsightedness (myopia), involuntary back-and-forth eye movements (nystagmus), or separation of the retina from the back of the eye (retinal detachment).

Some individuals have coloboma as part of a syndrome that affects other organs and tissues in the body. These forms of the condition are described as syndromic. When coloboma occurs by itself, it is described as nonsyndromic or isolated.

Colobomas involving the eyeball should be distinguished from gaps that occur in the eyelids. While these eyelid gaps are also called colobomas, they arise from abnormalities in different structures during early development. [from MedlinePlus Genetics]

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]

Verloes et al. (1992) described a rare variant of frontonasal dysplasia (see FND1, 136760), designated acromelic frontonasal dysplasia (AFND), in which similar craniofacial anomalies are associated with variable central nervous system malformations and limb defects including tibial hypoplasia/aplasia, talipes equinovarus, and preaxial polydactyly of the feet. [from OMIM]

Oculopalatocerebral syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by low birth weight, microcephaly, persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous, microphthalmia, large ears, small hands and feet, cleft palate, joint hypermobility, developmental delay, and cerebral atrophy (summary by Pellegrino et al., 2001). [from OMIM]

Neuroocular syndrome-1 (NOC1) encompasses a broad spectrum of overlapping anomalies, with developmental delay or impaired intellectual development as a consistent finding. Eye abnormalities show marked variability in the type and severity of defects, and include anophthalmia, microphthalmia, and coloboma. Other common systemic features include congenital heart and kidney defects, hypotonia, failure to thrive, and microcephaly (summary by Chowdhury et al., 2021). Genetic Heterogeneity of Neuroocular Syndrome See also NOC2 (168885), caused by mutation in the DAGLA gene (614015) on chromosome 11q12. [from OMIM]

Atelis syndrome-2 (ATELS2) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by poor overall growth with microcephaly and short stature, dysmorphic facial features, and congenital cardiac defects. Additional more variable features may include hematologic abnormalities, variable ocular abnormalities, motor delay, and anxiety. Patient cells exhibit a unique chromosomal instability phenotype consisting of segmented and dicentric chromosomes with mosaic variegated hyperploidy (Grange et al., 2022). See also ATELS1 (620184), caused by mutation in the SLF2 gene (610348). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of MVA, see MVA1 (257300). [from OMIM]

Persistence of the hyaloid artery, which is the embryonic artery that runs from the optic disc to the posterior lens capsule may persist; the site of attachment may form an opacity. The hyaloid artery is a branch of the ophthalmic artery, and usually regresses completely before birth. This features results from a failure of regression of the hyaloid vessel, which supplies the primary vitreous during embryogenesis and normally regresses in the third trimester of pregnancy, leading to a particular form of posterior cataract. [from HPO]