E' caratterizzata dall'associazione tra craniosinostosi coronarica (brachicefalia) e difetti radiali (aplasia o ipoplasia del pollice, aplasia o ipoplasia del radio); si associano dismorfismi facciali (esoftalmo,frontal bossing, ipoplasia del naso, microstomia, palato ogivale). E' presente oligodattilia.
E' trasmessa come carattere autosomico recessivo ed è dovuta a mutazioni del gene RECQL4 che mappa in 8q24.3. Questo gene fa parte della famiglia genica delle RecQ-elicasi responsabili di malattie che predispongono ai tumori.
La diagnosi differenziale deve essere posta con la Sindrome di Rothmund-Thomson e la Sindrome Rapaldino entrambe dovute a mutazioni del gene RECQL4, con la Sindrome di Roberts e l'anemia di Fanconi che si associano spesso ai difetti radiali ma non presentano craniosinostosi, e con la Sindrome di Saethre-Chotzen caratterizzata da craniosinostosi coronale ma non presenta difetti radiali.
Anche la sindrome da esposizione fetale all'acido valproico è caratterizzata da craniosinostosi e ipoplasia dei raggi radiali.
Bibliografia
Anyane-Yeboa, K.,
Gunning, L., Bloom, A. D. Baller-Gerold syndrome craniosynostosis-radial
aplasia syndrome. Clin. Genet. 17: 161-166, 1980. Boudreaux, J. M., Colon, M. A., Lorusso, G. D., Parro, E.
A., Pelias, M. Z. Baller-Gerold syndrome: an 11th case of craniosynostosis and
radial aplasia. Am. J. Med. Genet. 37: 447-450, 1990. Cohen, M. M., Jr., Toriello, H. V. Is there a Baller-Gerold
syndrome? (Editorial) Am. J. Med. Genet. 61: 63-64, 1996. Dallapiccola, B., Zelante, L., Mingarelli, R., Pellegrino,
M., Bertozzi, V. Baller-Gerold syndrome: case report and clinical and
radiological review. Am. J. Med. Genet. 42: 365-368, 1992. Farrell, S. A., Paes, B. A., Lewis, M. E. S. Fanconi anemia
in a child previously diagnosed as Baller-Gerold syndrome. (Letter) Am. J. Med.
Genet. 50: 98-99, 1994. Feingold, M., Sklower, S. L., Willner, J. P., Desnick, R.
H., Cohen, M. M. Craniosynostosis-radial aplasia: Baller-Gerold syndrome. Am.
J. Dis. Child. 133: 1279-1280, 1979. Galea, P., Tolmie, J. L. Normal growth and development in a
child with Baller-Gerold syndrome (craniosynostosis and radial aplasia). J.
Med. Genet. 27: 784-787, 1990. Gripp, K. W., Stolle, C. A., Celle, L., McDonald-McGinn, D.
M., Whitaker, L. A., Zackai, E. H. TWIST gene mutation in a patient with radial
aplasia and craniosynostosis: further evidence for heterogeneity of
Baller-Gerold syndrome. Am. J. Med. Genet. 82: 170-176, 1999. Huson, S. M., Rodgers, C. S., Hall, C. M., Winter, R. M. The
Baller-Gerold syndrome: phenotypic and cytogenetic overlap with Roberts
syndrome. J. Med. Genet. 27: 371-375, 1990. Lewis, M. E. S., Rosenbaum, P. L., Paes, B. A. Baller-Gerold
syndrome associated with congenital hydrocephalus. Am. J. Med. Genet. 40:
307-310, 1991. Lin, A. E., McPherson, E., Nwokoro, N. A., Clemens, M., Losken,
H. W., Mulvihill, J. J. Further delineation of the Baller-Gerold syndrome. Am.
J. Med. Genet. 45: 519-524, 1993. Megarbane, A., Melki, I., Souraty, N., Gerbaka, J., El
Ghouzzi, V., Bonaventure, J., Mornand, A., Loiselet, J. Overlap between
Baller-Gerold and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome. Clin. Dysmorph. 9: 303-305, 2000. Pelias, M. Z., Superneau, D. W., Thurmon, T. F. A sixth
report (eighth case) of craniosynostosis-radial aplasia (Baller-Gerold)
syndrome. Am. J. Med. Genet. 10: 133-139, 1981. Porteous, M. E. M., Cross, I., Burn, J. VACTERL with
hydrocephalus: one end of the Fanconi anemia spectrum of anomalies? Am. J. Med.
Genet. 43: 1032-1034, 1992. Ramos Fuentes, F. J., Nicholson, L., Scott, C. I., Jr.
Phenotypic variability in the Baller-Gerold syndrome: report of a mildly
affected patient and review of the literature. Europ. J. Pediat. 153: 483-487,
1994. Rossbach, H.-C., Sutcliffe, M. J., Haag, M. M., Grana, N.
H., Rossi, A. R., Barbosa, J. L. Fanconi anemia in brothers initially diagnosed
with VACTERL association with hydrocephalus, and subsequently with
Baller-Gerold syndrome. Am. J. Med. Genet. 61: 65-67, 1996. Santos de Oliveira, R., Lajeunie, E., Arnaud, E.,
Greensmith, A., Renier, D. Baller-Gerold syndrome after fetal exposure to
sodium valproate. (Letter) Am. J. Med. Genet. 134A: 113 only, 2005. Seto, M. L., Lee, S. J., Sze, R. W., Cunningham, M. L.
Another TWIST on Baller-Gerold syndrome. Am. J. Med. Genet. 104: 323-330, 2001.
22. Toriello, H. V., Pearson, D.
V. M., Sommer, A. Verification of the existence of a severe form of Fanconi
pancytopenia. Proc. Greenwood Genet. Center. 11: 142, 1991. Van Maldergem, L., Siitonen, H. A., Jalkh, N., Chouery, E.,
De Roy, M., Delague, V., Muenke, M., Jabs, E. W., Cai, J., Wang, L. L., Plon,
S. E., Fourneau, C., Kestila, M., Gillerot, Y., Megarbane, A., Verloes, A.
Revisiting the craniosynostosis-radial ray hypoplasia association:
Baller-Gerold syndrome caused by mutations in the RECQL4 gene. J. Med. Genet.
43: 148-152, 2006. Van Maldergem, L., Verloes, A., Lejeune, L., Gillerot, Y.
The Baller-Gerold syndrome. J. Med. Genet. 29: 266-268, 1992.