German syndrome

What it is

German syndrome is an autosomal recessive arthrogryposis syndrome, described in 5 cases. Three of the four known families with affected children were Ashkenazi Jews. German syndrome is characterized by arthrogryposis, hypotonia-hypokinesia sequence, and lymphedema. Patients present distinct craniofacial appearance (tall forehead and ''carp''-shaped mouth, cleft palate), contractures, severe hypotonia manifesting as motor delay, and swallowing difficulties. The disease has a severe morbidity and mortality rate and survivors present a small stature, hypotonia, frequent upper respiratory infections, and psychomotor delay. There have been no further descriptions in the literature since 1987.

Key facts

Prevalence

<1 / 1 000 000

Age of onset

Neonatal

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive

Classified as

Malformation syndrome

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references