Brittle Cornea, Blue Sclera, and Red Hair Syndrome (The Brittle Cornea Syndrome)
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Br J Ophthalmol: first published as 10.1136/bjo.64.3.175 on 1 March 1980. Downloaded from British Journal of Ophthalmology, 1980, 64, 175-177 Brittle cornea, blue sclera, and red hair syndrome (the brittle cornea syndrome) U. TICHO, M. IVRY, AND S. MERIN From the Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel SUMVMARY A syndrome of red hair, blue sclera, and brittle cornea with recurrent spontaneous p,!fforations is presented in 2 siblings of a Tunisian Jewish family. The genetic transmission of this disorder is autosomal recessive. This is the second description of this syndrome, which should be called the 'brittle cornea syndrome'. This syndrome has so far been reported only in Tunisian Jewish families. Brittle cornea with spontaneous perforation is a visual acuity of 6/60 with the best myopic correc- rare disease. It has been described in association tion. The cornea was extremely thin with kerato- with systemic mesodermal disorders such as osteo- globus (Fig. 3). The anterior chamber was deep genesis imrperfecta,' Marfan syndrome,2 and Ehlers- and the lens was clear. No abnormalities were Danlos syndrome.3 present in the posterior segment. The intraocular This communication describes a 'brittle cornea' pressure was 16 mmHg. syndrome unrelated to systemic mesodermal disor- Examination of the left eye revealed a visual ders. The triad of symptoms includes red hair, acuity of counting fingers at 2 meters. A large brittle megalocornea, and blue sclera. The following corneal scar was present in the centre of the left 2 cases and the 4 other cases reported previously4 cornea with anterior iris adhesions (Fig. 4). The represent the above syndrome without any systemic lens remained clear. Fundus examination, so far as manifestations. could be seen, did not reveal any abnormality. http://bjo.bmj.com/ The 'brittle cornea' syndrome seems to be an Patient 2 was a red-haired girl, 8 years old (Figs. isolated genetic disorder transmitted as an auto- 5, 6). She had had recurrent perforations of her somal recessive trait. eyes, which were surgically repaired. The visual acuity was found to be counting fingers at 1-2 Case reports meters due to a central corneal adherent leucoma in each eye (Figs. 7, 8). The lenses and posterior Two children out of 5 siblings presented the follow- segments were normal so far as could be seen. ing disease. The parents were first cousins and Family studies. The parents of the children were on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. originated from a Tunisian Jewish family. Both first cousins. Both were healthy, without any patients had red hair (Figs. 1, 5), blue sclera, and ocular abnormality. Of their 5 children 3 were uniform keratoglobus, and extremely thin corneae normal and two affected. All members of the family (Fig. 3) with several leucomata from previous except the 2 affected children had dark hair and spontaneous perforations (Figs. 4, 7, 8). On none had blue sclera, bone fractures, or deafness. physical examination both children appeared other- The examination of the family could not be exten- wise normal. No systemic manifestations were sive because most members live in Tunis. However, found, and blood examinations gave normal results. only the 2 children described above were red- The parents and other members of the family had haired and affected by eye disease. Fig. 9 illustrates dark hair and no abnormality of the eyes. the family tree. Patient I was a red-haired boy, 16 years old (Figs. 1, 2). In the past he had a spontaneous per- Discussion foration of his left cornea, which had been repaired surgically. On examination the right eye had a This brother and sister and 4 other cases previously reported4 present a triad of symptoms of red hair, Correspondence to Dr U. Ticho. blue sclera, and brittle cornea. Systemic mesodermal 175 Br J Ophthalmol: first published as 10.1136/bjo.64.3.175 on 1 March 1980. Downloaded from 176 U. Ticho, M. Ivry, and S. Merin Figs. 1, 2 Boy 16 years old with brittle cornea syndrome. Note red hair, corneal sear in left eye. 2 Fig. 3 Boy, right eye. Note extremely regularly thin cornea. Fig. 4 Boy, Note corneal with anterior irisleft adhesionseve. due to scar spontaneous perforation. 3 4 *..: ....... Figs. 5, 6 Girl 8 years old with brittle cornea syndrome. Note red hair, bilateral corneal scars. 6 http://bjo.bmj.com/ Fig. 7 Girl, right eye. Note corneal scar with anterior iris adhesions due to spontaneous perforation. Fig. 8 Girl, left eye. Note corneal scar with anterior iris adhesions due to spontaneous perforation. 7 8 on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. manifestations were not found in any of the 6 D cases. Thus the syndrome seems to be an isolated genetic disorder. Various cases of blue sclera associated with keratoconus or keratoglobus have been reported.5 6 Most had hyperelastic skin, lax ligaments, poor teeth, fractures, deafness, etc. The common diseases associated with brittle 8 4 4 [ cornea and blue sclera are the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,7 8 osteogenesis imperfecta,' and the Marfan syndrome.2 McKusick3 suggested that each of these meso- dermal abnormalities consists of a defective bio- chemical mechanism of connective tissue. In brittle cornea associated with Ehlers-Danlos syn- Fig. 9 Family tree of the brittle cornea syndrome. Br J Ophthalmol: first published as 10.1136/bjo.64.3.175 on 1 March 1980. Downloaded from Brittle cornea, blue sclera, and red hair synidrome (the brittle cornea syndrome) 177 drome, for example, deficiency of lysyl hydroxylase References activity in cultured fibroblasts has been 9 reported.3 'Badtke G. Uber einen eigenartigen Fall von Keratokonus However the deficiency of this enzyme in similar und blauen Skleren bei Geschwistern. Klin Monatsbl cases has not been confirmed by others.10 11 Unfortu- Augenheilk 1941; 106: 585-92. nately such biochemical assays were not performed 2Black HH, Landay LH. Marfan's syndrome. Am J Dis in our cases. However, they did not present Child 1955; 89: 414-8. bone 3McKusick VA. Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue, fractures or deafness as in osteogenesis imperfecta. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1972. Nor did they present skin or ligament hyperelastic 4Stein E, Lazar M, Adam A. Brittle cornea. Am J Ophthal- changes as in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or changes mol 1968; 66: 67-9. in stature similar to the Marfan syndrome. 5Duke-Elder WS. Congenital deformities. System of Ophthal- mology. St. Louis: Mosby, 1963; 3: 2. In our opinion the 2 siblings suffer from a genetic 'Hyams SW, Dar H, Neumann E. Blue sclerae and kerato- disorder described only in Tunisian Jews, which globus. Br J Ophthalmol 1969; 53: 53-8. can best be called the 'brittle cornea syndrome'. 7Arkin W. Blue scleras with keratoglobus. Am J Ophthalmol This syndrome has 3 major components: spon- 1964; 58: 678-82. 8Berghton P. Serious ophthalmological complications in the taneous perforation of cornea (brittle cornea), blue Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Br J Ophthalmol 1970; 54: 263-8. sclera, and red hair. It should be mentioned that red 9Steinmann B, Gitzelmann R, Vogel A, Grant ME, Harwood hair is very uncommon in Tunisian Jews and seems R, Sear CHJ. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in two siblings with to be a 'marker' of the brittle cornea syndrome. deficient lysyl hydroxylase activity in cultured skin fibro- blasts but only mild hydroxylysine deficit in skin. Helv From the family presented here, and the family Paediatr Acta 1975; 30: 255-74. reported previously4 it is evident that this disorder "Judisch FG, Wasiri M, Krachmer JH. Ocular Ehlers- is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait. The Danlos syndrome with normal lysyl hydroxylase activity. three traits of brittle cornea, blue sclera, and red Arch Ophthalmol 1976; 94: 1489-511. "Behrens-Baumann W, Gebauer H, Langenbeck U. Blaue- hair are transmitted by a single gene. All reported Sklera-Syndrom und Keratoglobus. Albrecht von Graefes homozygotes presented the complete syndrome. Arch Klin Ophthalmol 1977; 204: 235-46. http://bjo.bmj.com/ on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright..