Acromicric dysplasia caused by a mutation of fibrillin 1 in a family: A case report

BACKGROUND: Acromicric dysplasia (AD) is a rare skeletal dysplasia. Its incidence is < 1/1000000, and only approximately 60 cases are reported worldwide. It is a disease characterized by severe short stature, short hands and feet, facial abnormalities, normal intelligence, and bone abnormalities. Unlike other skeletal dysplasia, AD has a mild clinical phenotype, mainly characterized by short stature. Extensive endocrine examination has not revealed a potential cause. The clinical effect of growth hormone therapy is still uncertain. CASE SUMMARY: We report a clinical phenotype of AD associated with mutations in the fibrillin 1 (FBN1) (OMIM 102370) gene c.5183C>T (p. Ala1728Val) in three people from a Chinese family. A 4-year-old member of the family first visited the hospital because of slow growth and short stature for 2 years, but no abnormalities were found after a series of laboratory tests, echocardiography, pituitary magnetic resonance imaging, and ophthalmological examination. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was used to treat the patient for > 5 years. The efficacy of rhGH was apparent in the first year of treatment; the height increased from -3.64 standard deviation score (SDS) to -2.88 SDS, while the efficacy weakened from the second year. However, long-term follow-up is required to clarify the efficacy of rhGH. CONCLUSION: FBN1-related AD has genetic heterogeneity and/or clinical variability, which brings challenges to the evaluation of clinical treatment. rhGH is effective for treatment of AD, but long-term follow-up is needed to clarify the effect.