Fryns syndrome

Last revised by Rohit Sharma on 15 Dec 2018

Fryns syndrome (FS) is a rare congenital disorder which can have significant phenotypic variability but is primarily characterized by cranio-facial anomalies, diarphagmatic defects and distal limb anomalies.

Incidence is estimated at 1:15,000 live births.

The clinical spectrum is wide and reported clinical features include

It is thought to carry an autosomal recessive inheritance.

These can also be sometimes be considered as part of the clinical spectrum listed above

Some of the above clinical features may be evident on antenatal ultrasound. First trimester ultrasound may show a cystic hygroma as an early (but non specific) feature.

The prognosis is generally poor with a majority of cases being stillborn or not surviving beyond the early neonatal period. A lot of the mortality can be due to development of pulmonary hypoplasia. In those who survive severe developmental delay and intellectual disability are common.

The syndrome was first described by J P Fryns at al. in 1979 2.

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