FETAL BRAIN DISRUPTION SEQUENCE IN SISTERS

We report two female siblings with the fetal brain disruption sequence. Extensive investigation of both children failed to define a definitive aetiology but clinical and laboratory findings are consistent with a hitherto unknown storage disease. We postulate that the accumulation of a neurotoxic metabolite may be responsible for the disease phenotype observed. This is the first report of recurrence of the fetal brain disruption sequence and supports the existence of a genetic form of this condition. Previous reports have emphasized possible environmental aetiologies. Infants with fetal brain disruption sequence should be investigated exhaustively and, in the absence of definitive evidence of an environmental cause, the possibility of a genetic aetiology should be considered. In some families the recurrence risk may be as high as one in four.