A nutrition-based approach to epidermolysis bullosa: Causes, assessments, requirements and management.

Inherited epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of rare diseases characterized by skin and mucous membrane fragility. EB primarily involves the skin and, in specific subtypes, the mucous membrane, resulting in complications which can strongly affect nutritional status (e.g. gastrointestinal complications, hand deformities, pain). The aims of nutritional support mainly include improving nutritional status, alleviating the stress of oral feeding and minimizing nutritional deficiencies, thus consequently improving growth, pubertal development, bowel function, immune status and wound healing. The aim of this review is to discuss knowledge of different aspects of the disease related to nutrition and growth.

7p22.1 microduplication syndrome: Refinement of the critical region.

7p22.1 microduplication syndrome is mainly characterized by developmental and speech delay, craniofacial dysmorphisms and skeletal abnormalities. The minimal critical region includes two OMIM genes: ACTB and RNF216. Here, we report on a girl carrying the smallest 7p22.1 microduplication detected to date, contributing to the delineation of the clinical phenotype of the 7p22.1 duplication syndrome and to the refinement of the minimal critical region. Our patient shares several major features of the 7p22.1 duplication syndrome, including craniofacial dysmorphisms and speech and motor delay, but she also presents with renal anomalies. Based on present and published dup7p22.1 patients we suggest that renal abnormalities might be an additional feature of the 7p22.1 microduplication syndrome. We also pinpoint the ACTB gene as the key gene affecting the 7p22.1 duplication syndrome phenotype.