Werner syndrome

What it is

Werner syndrome (WS) is a rare inherited syndrome characterized by premature aging with onset in the third decade of life and with cardinal clinical features including bilateral cataracts, short stature, graying and thinning of scalp hair, characteristic skin disorders and premature onset of additional age-related disorders.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (Europe)

Age of onset

Adolescent, Adult

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive

Classified as

Disease

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.

Gene

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