Dubowitz Syndrome

Symptoms, Doctors, Treatments, Advances & More

Dubowitz syndrome is a very rare genetic and developmental disorder with a broad range of signs and symptoms. The typical findings of Dubowitz syndrome include growth failure/short stature, characteristic facial features such as a small triangular face, high sloping forehead, drooping eyelid (ptosis), short eyelids, increased distance between eyes (hypertelorism) broad and flat nasal bridge with a prominent and rounded nasal tip, smaller than normal head (microcephaly), intellectual disability, and eczema, especially on the face and behind the knees. Other common findings are behavioral disorders (hyperactivity, and/or autistic features), speech alterations, scanty or absent hair, foot abnormalities, delayed bone age, bone defects of the lower part of the spine (sacrum and coccyx), testicles that are still not located in the scrotum (cryptorchidism), memory and / or learning problems. There may be an increased risk of having cancer such as leukemia, or lymphoma. The diagnosis is made based on the symptoms (specially the facial features), but there is no specific laboratory test. The cause is still unknown, but, some people who are diagnosed with the syndrome may have variants in the NSUN2 and LIG4 genes, or have loss or gain of microscopic material in some chromosomes (chromosomal microdeletions or microduplications).