Facio-Cardio-Renal (Eastman-Bixler) Syndrome


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Am J Med Genet A. 2006 Apr 1;140(7):769-74.
Fetus with two identical reciprocal translocations: description of a rare complication of consanguinity.
Martinet D, Vial Y, Thonney F, Beckmann JS, Meagher-Villemure K, Unger S.
Service of Medical Genetics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.

We report on a 24-week fetus with multiple organ anomalies secondary to biparental inheritance of an apparently balanced t(17;20) reciprocal translocation. The pregnancy was terminated following the discovery by ultrasound of an abnormal heart and micrognathia. At autopsy, the following anomalies were found: Pierre-Robin sequence, hypoplasia of the right ventricle with muscular hypertrophy, and endocardial fibroelastosis, hypoplastic lungs, dysplastic left kidney, bilateral pelvicalyceal dilatation, central nervous system periventricular heterotopias and right sided club foot. Given the endocardial fibroelastosis and cleft palate, Eastman-Bixler syndrome (Facio-cardio-renal) is a possible diagnosis. The parents were first cousins and each had an identical t(17;20)(q21.1;p11.21) translocation. The fetal karyotype was 46,XX,t(17;20)(q21.1;p11.21)mat,t(17;20)(q21.1;p11.21)pat. While there are a few reports of consanguineous families where both the mother and father had the same reciprocal translocation and offspring with unbalanced karyotypes, we were unable to find any reports of a fetus/child with double identical reciprocal translocations. We propose that although the fetus had an apparently balanced karyotype, inheriting only the translocated chromosomes led to the unmasking of a recessive syndrome. It seems most likely that a gene (or genes) was disrupted by the breaks but the parents might also be heterozygous carriers of a recessive gene mutation since the fetus must be homozygous by descent for many loci on both chromosomes 17 and 20 (as well as on other chromosomal segments). It was not possible to totally exclude segmental uniparental disomy as a cause of the anomalies as no recombinations were detected for chromosome 17. However, there is no evidence to suggest that chromosome 17 is imprinted and UPD 20 was excluded thus making an imprinting error unlikely. Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


Am J Med Genet. 1991 Jul 1;40(1):31-3.
Facio-cardio-renal (Eastman-Bixler) syndrome.
Nevin NC, Hill AE, Carson DJ.
Department of Medical Genetics, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

We report on a 5-year-old boy with moderate mental retardation, horseshoe kidneys, tricuspid valve prolapse, and a characteristic face with broad nasal root, prominent ears, and a cleft palate. These manifestations suggested the diagnosis of the Eastman-Bixler syndrome. Our patient also had an isolated growth hormone deficiency which responded successfully to treatment.


Clin Genet. 1977 Jun;11(6):424-30.
Facio-cardio-renal syndrome: a newly delineated recessive disorder.
Eastman JR, Bixler D.

A previously undescribed genetic syndrome with multiple congenital malformations is described. The major components include: 1) horseshoe kidneys; 2) severe mental retardation; 3) characteristic facies; and 4) heart defects. Evidence for considering it to be an autosomal recessive syndrome is also discussed.


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