ABSTRACT
Oral-facial-digital syndrome type I is a group of X-linked dominant conditions, lethal in utero in male individuals. Internal anomalies are less well documented than are external findings. We report a case of typical phenotype and absent family history of kidney disease in a 15-year-old white girl (46,XX) who died of renal failure and massive cerebral hemorrhage. At necropsy, the kidneys were greatly enlarged but of fairly normal shape. The cortex was replaced by thin-walled spherical cysts, 0.5 to 2.0 cm in diameter; the majority of the smaller cysts were located deep in the cortex, and the medulla contained lesser numbers of larger cysts. No distal urinary tract obstruction was present. Microdissection revealed cysts and diverticula located in all segments of the nephrons and collecting ducts. Uninvolved nephrons showed diffuse hypertrophy. These findings were correlated with immunoperoxidase stains using peanut lectin, Lotus tetragonolobus agglutinin, antibodies to cytokeratins, stage-specific embryonic antigen-1, Tamm-Horsfall protein, and epithelial membrane antigen. Other visceral anomalies included biliary cystadenomatous proliferation in the liver and pancreatic cysts. The renal changes are similar to those of autosomal dominant (adult-type) polycystic disease.