The cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome
Istituto di Genetica Medica, Università Cattolica, Largo F Vito, 1, 00168 Roma, Italy; gneri@rm.unicatt.it
Istituto di Genetica Medica, Università Cattolica, Largo F Vito, 1, 00168 Roma, Italy; gneri@rm.unicatt.it
Abstract
The cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome is a condition of sporadic occurrence, with patients showing multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation. It is characterised by failure to thrive, relative macrocephaly, a distinctive face with prominent forehead, bitemporal constriction, absence of eyebrows, hypertelorism, downward‐slanting palpebral fissures often with epicanthic folds, depressed nasal root and a bulbous tip of the nose. The cutaneous involvement consists of dry, hyperkeratotic, scaly skin, sparse and curly hair, and cavernous haemangiomata. Most patients have a congenital heart defect, most commonly pulmonic stenosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The developmental delay usually is moderate to severe. The syndrome is caused by gain‐of‐function mutations in four different genes BRAF, KRAS, mitogen‐activated protein/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase MEK1 and MEK2, all belonging to the same RAS–extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) pathway that regulates cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. The CFC syndrome is a member of a family of syndromes that includes the Noonan and Costello syndromes, presenting with phenotypic similarities. Noonan syndrome is caused by mutations in the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP‐2 gene (PTPN11), with a few people having a mutation in KRAS. Costello syndrome is caused by mutations in HRAS. The protein products of these genes also belong to the RAS–ERK pathway. Thus, the clinical overlap of these three conditions, which often poses a problem of differential diagnosis, is explained by their pathogenetic relatedness.
The cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome (OMIM 115150) is a syndrome where patients have multiple congenital anomalies or mental retardation, failure to thrive, psychomotor delay, a characteristic face, congenital heart defects, and abnormalities of the skin, eyes, gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. Occurrence is sporadic, with men and women equally affected. The syndrome was first described 20 years ago by Reynolds et al1 in eight children. Additional reports soon followed and, according to a recent review,2 about 59 patients have been reported, providing the basis for an accurate delineation of the phenotypic spectrum of the syndrome. Nevertheless, a question has lingered for many years whether CFC is a unique and separate condition, or a variant of the Noonan syndrome (OMIM 163950)3456789 or of the Costello syndrome (OMIM 218040).10 These three conditions share several manifestations (table 11)111213 and “borderline” cases do exist, usually in infants, which defy a clear‐cut diagnosis. A useful diagnostic approach was provided with the creation of a CFC index based on 82 clinical traits and their frequencies in the population with the CFC syndrome.14 However, matters changed radically only with the discovery of different genes whose mutations cause each one of these syndromes: the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP‐2 gene PTPN11 for Noonan syndrome,15HRAS for Costello syndrome,16 and KRAS, BRAF, mitogen‐activated protein/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase MEK1 and MEK2 for CFC.1718 These discoveries are doubly interesting for (a) finally allowing clarification of the nosology of these three syndromes and (b) explaining their similarities, given that the protein products of the causative genes interact in a common pathway.18 Therefore, it seems timely and appropriate to review the status of the CFC syndrome, providing a thorough clinical and molecular description and a nosological discussion with respect to the Noonan and Costello syndromes (table 11).
| CFC | Noonan syndrome11 | Costello syndrome1213 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Relative macrocephaly | Yes | Yes |
| Dolichocephaly | Yes | No | |
| Hair | Sparse, curly, friable | Curly | Fine, sparse, curly, kinky |
| Absent eyebrows | No | No | |
| Face | Tall forehead | Yes | No |
| Narrowed temples | No | No | |
| Small chin | Yes | No | |
| Eye | Palpebral ptosis | Yes | Yes |
| Hypertelorism | Yes | No | |
| Downward‐slanting palpebral fissures | Yes | Yes | |
| Epicanthal folds | Yes | Yes | |
| Exotropia | Strabismus | Strabismus | |
| Ear | Earlobe creases | No | Fleshy lobes |
| Nose | Short | No | Yes |
| Broad nasal base | No | Yes | |
| Mouth | Deep philtrum | Yes | No |
| Cupid's bow lip | No | No |
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the help and continued support of Brenda Conger, President of CFC International, and the families with members with the CFC syndrome who participated in the studies that form the basis of this review.
Abbreviations
ASD - atrial septal defect
CFC - cardiofaciocutaneous
ERK - extracellular signal‐regulated kinase
PTPN11 - protein‐tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type II encoding Tyrosine Phosphate SHP2
PVS - pulmonary valve stenosis
Footnotes
Competing interests: None declared.
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