Molecular and clinical analysis of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome in the United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND: Ellis-van Creveld (EvC) syndrome is an autosomal recessive chondrodysplastic condition with clinical manifestations that include short-limbs and ribs, postaxial polydactyly and dysplastic nails and teeth. In about two thirds of patients, mutations in either EVC or EVC2 genes have been found to be the underlying cause. METHODS: In this paper, we describe the molecular (DNA sequencing) and clinical analysis of six children diagnosed with EvC from four different families from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). RESULTS: All the children had the common clinical and radiological features of this syndrome. However, DNA sequence analysis of the genes shown to be involved (EVC and EVC2) revealed a novel splice site mutation (c.2047-1G>T) in intron 13 of EVC2 gene in one family. In addition, we confirm previous mutational analyses that showed a truncating mutation in exon 13 of EVC gene (c.1813C>T; p.Q605X) in the second family and a single nucleotide deletion (c.981delG; p.K327fs) in exon 8 of EVC2 gene in the third family. No mutations in the exons, splice sites or the promoter regions of either gene have been found in the index case of the fourth family who exhibited "EvC-like" features. CONCLUSIONS: Given the small population size of UAE, our data illustrates further the molecular heterogeneity observed in EvC patients and excludes the possibility of a common founder effect for this condition in the UAE reflecting the current ethnic diversity of the country.

Birth prevalence and pattern of osteochondrodysplasias in an inbred high risk population.

BACKGROUND: Define the pattern and birth prevalence of the different types of osteochondrodysplasias in newborn infants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population, which is highly inbred and where termination of pregnancy is not accepted. METHODS: All infants with a birth weight of 500 gm and above in the three hospitals in Al Ain Medical District of the UAE were studied prospectively over a period of 5 years. For each live birth or stillbirth with suspected skeletal dysplasia, a detailed clinical and radiological examination was carried out. Pregnancy history and information regarding parental age, ethnic origin, family history, and level of consanguinity were obtained and a pedigree was constructed. RESULTS: Among the 38,048 births during the study period, 36 (9.46/10,000 births) had some type of skeletal dysplasia. Eighteen cases were attributed to autosomal recessive genes (4.7/10,000 births), 10 were due to apparent new dominant mutations (2.62/10,000), five were autosomal dominant type (1.3/10,000) and one was X-linked dominant type (0.26/10,000). In three cases, inheritance was unknown. The most common recessive type of skeletal dysplasia in our series was fibrochondrogenesis (1.05/10,000), followed by chondrodysplasia punctata (0.78/10,000). The birth prevalence rate of skeletal dysplasia doubled in the last 2 years of the 5-year observation period (6.74/10,000 in 1996 vs. 12.86/10,000 in 1999, and 13.45/10,000 in 2000). This increase involved cases caused by new dominant mutations, and occurred mainly in the first half of 1999. CONCLUSION: This prospective study has identified a high birth prevalence of skeletal dysplasia, and risk factors are postulated. These findings represent an accurate birthprevalence figure and a useful baseline for this group of birth defects in the UAE.