Oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 is another dominant polycystic kidney disease: clinical, radiological and histopathological features of a new kindred.

BACKGROUND

Oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1) is a rare disorder comprising malformations of the face, oral cavity, hands, and feet. Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a more recently recognized feature of the syndrome.

METHODS

We now report on the clinical, radiological and histopathological features of an OFD1 and PKD kindred with five affected members in three subsequent generations.

RESULTS

All patients were female and had accompanying PKD as assessed by ultrasound scans. The plasma creatinine was normal in three, but PKD caused end-stage renal failure in two of these individuals in the second and fifth decades. A histochemical analysis of renal tissue from one affected member of this kindred demonstrated a predominantly glomerulocystic kidney disease with a minor population of cysts derived from distal tubules as assessed by staining with Arachis hypogaea lectin. Cyst epithelia had a high level of mitosis as assessed by staining with antisera to proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and distal cysts overexpressed PAX2 protein, a potentially oncogenic transcription factor. We detected multiple pancreatic cysts in one member affected by OFD1 although there were no symptoms of pancreatic disease; this constitutes a novel radiological feature of the syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

This kindred illustrates the inheritance pattern of OFD1 and its accompanying PKD. Although the renal disease superficially resembles ADPKD with macroscopic cysts and a dominant inheritance pattern, histology shows a predominance of glomerular cysts and the syndrome is X-linked, with affected males dying before birth. The recognition of the accompanying dysmorphic features is the key to a diagnosis of OFD1 in a female child or adult who presents with PKD.