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Biomedical subjects

I Kaitila

Publications and source records attributed to I Kaitila.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Phenotypic expressions of a Gly 154Arg mutation in type II collagen in two unrelated patients with spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia (SEMD).

Type II collagenopathies consist of chondrodysplasias ranging from lethal to mild in severity. A large number of mutations has been found in the COL2A1 gene. Glycine substitutions have been the most common types of mutation. Genotype-phenotype correlations in type II collagenopathies have not been established, partly because of insufficient clinical and radiographic description of the patients. We found a glycine-to-arginine substitution at position 154 in type II collagen in two unrelated isolated propositi with spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia and provide a comparative clinical and radiographic analysis from birth to young adulthood for this condition. The clinical phenotype was disproportionate short stature with varus/valgus deformities of the lower limbs requiring corrective osteotomies, and lumbar lordosis. The skeletal radiographs showed an evolution from short tubular bones, delayed epiphyseal development, and mild vertebral involvement to severe metaphyseal dysplasia with dappling irregularities, and hip "dysplasia." The metaphyseal abnormalities disappeared by adulthood.

Adult↗

Quality of life in early adolescence: a sixteen-dimensional health-related measure (16D).

While data on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of adults are accumulating, very little is known about the HRQOL--and especially the perceived HRQOL--of children. In our study we introduced a 16-dimensional, generic self-assessment measure of HRQOL (16D) for early adolescents, and demonstrated its use with four populations of children aged 12-15: (1) 239 normal schoolchildren, (2) patients waiting for organ transplantation (n = 5), (3) patients with genetic skeletal dysplasias (n = 19), and (4) patients with epilepsy (n = 32). The HRQOL profiles of the patients differed significantly according to the diagnosis, giving support to its construct validity. The reliability of the measure was high: its repeatability coefficient was 91%. The quality of life ratings of the healthy boys and their parents differed on the dimensions of distress, vitality, speech, mental function, and discomfort and symptoms (p < 0.05). In addition, there were significant differences in the health-related valuations between the girls, boys and their parents. We conclude that the assessment of quality of life of adolescents should be based on data collected from the adolescents themselves. Further, the 16D is so far the only generic HRQOL measure designed specifically for this purpose. It is capable of differentiating the HRQOL of healthy adolescents as well as patients with various diagnoses. Our experience also indicates that it is easy to use, yet it seems comprehensive, reliable, and valid.

Adolescent↗

Quality of life in pre-adolescence: a 17-dimensional health-related measure (17D).

Although interest in the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children has increased in the last years, validated methods for assessing the HRQOL- and especially the perceived HRQOL-of children have been missing. We introduced a 17-dimensional, illustrated, generic measure of perceived HRQOL (17D) for pre-adolescents, and demonstrated its application to three populations of children aged 8-11 years: (1) 244 normal schoolchildren; (2) 22 patients surviving organ transplantation and (3) 10 patients with genetic skeletal dysplasias. The HRQOL scores and profiles of the patients differed significantly according to the diagnosis, giving support to its construct validity. The reliability of the measure was high: its repeatability coefficient was 95%. As a structured interview of 20-30 minutes, the measurement burden is reasonable. We conclude that the assessment of quality of life of pre-adolescents can and should be based on data collected from the children themselves. Our initial experience indicates that 17D is comprehensive, reliable, and valid.

Bone Diseases, Developmental↗

Identification of COL2A1 gene mutations in patients with chondrodysplasias and familial osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To use a recently developed procedure for analysis of blood leukocyte DNA to detect mutations in the gene for type II procollagen (COL2A1) in patients with cartilage diseases ranging from early-onset familial osteoarthritis (OA) to lethal chondrodysplasias. METHODS: The technique of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to scan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products from 45 exons and exon-flanking sequences of the COL2A1 gene in more than 70 patients with cartilage diseases whose severity ranged from mild to lethal. PCR products with abnormal migrations were then sequenced. RESULTS: Among the 3 patients with lethal hypochondrogenesis who were analyzed, all 3 were found to have a mutation in the COL2A1 gene. Among 17 patients with spondyloepiphyseal or spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, 2 well-defined and 2 probable mutations were found. Among 15 patients with the Wagner-Stickler syndrome, 2 well-defined and 2 probable mutations were found. Among 45 patients with early-onset familial OA, 1 probable mutation was found. CONCLUSION: Using the procedure developed for analysis of the COL2A1 gene, mutations were detected in > 20% of patients with chondrodysplasias and up to 2% of patients with early-onset familial OA. However, these percentages are only minimal estimates because all possible mutations in the gene cannot be detected with this procedure.

Cartilage, Articular↗

Early prenatal diagnosis of cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) with polymorphic DNA markers.

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting in short stature and hypoplasia of hair. Associated features include impaired T-cell-mediated immunity, deficient erythropoiesis, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and an increased risk of malignancies. As the condition may, in some cases, be severe or even fatal during childhood, families with a previous history of CHH may wish to have prenatal diagnosis. We have previously assigned the gene for CHH to the proximal 9p by linkage analysis using several polymorphic DNA markers. Here we report the prenatal testing for CHH in three Finnish and one Australian family using three DNA markers closely linked to the CHH gene. In three cases a fetus unaffected with CHH was predicted at the probability level of more than 94 per cent. In one case, an affected fetus was predicted. The results were in concordance with ultrasonography performed for all fetuses. The three children born to date were unaffected as predicted. The DNA marker-based analysis thus provides a useful method for early prenatal testing for CHH.

Base Sequence↗

Defective in-vitro colony formation of haematopoietic progenitors in patients with cartilage-hair hypoplasia and history of anaemia.

UNLABELLED: Cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) is a metaphyseal chondrodysplasia with short-limbed short stature. The CHH gene has been recently mapped to chromosome 9, and a generalized defect in cellular proliferation has been suggested. Immunological and haematological abnormalities are common findings in CHH. In the present study erythroid, megakaryocyte, and granulocyte-macrophage colony formation in vitro by progenitors from bone marrow and blood was investigated in eight patients with CHH. All patients showed decreased erythroid and megakaryocyte colony formation. Only one patient had a normal granulocyte-macrophage growth, while the others showed decreased numbers of colonies. The defect in colony formation did not correlate with the haemoglobin concentration, platelet count or neutrophil count. The impaired growth was not caused by a decreased number of progenitors as shown by erythroid cultures. The erythroid progenitors were incapable of colony formation in culture conditions sufficient for colony formation by normal progenitors. In a more effectively stimulated culture assay the number of erythroid progenitors was normal or increased. CONCLUSION: The present study shows defective in vitro colony formation in all myeloid lineages in patients with CHH, which is in accordance with the suggestion of a common cell proliferation defect in CHH.

Adolescent↗

A recurrent mutation in the tyrosine kinase domain of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 causes hypochondroplasia.

Hypochondroplasia (MIM 146000) is an autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia with skeletal features similar to but milder than those seen in achondroplasia. Within the past year, the achondroplasia locus has been mapped to 4p 16.3 (refs 5-7) and mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene have been identified in patients with the disorder. More than 95% of 242 cases reported so far are accounted for by a single Gly380Arg mutation. McKusick et al. proposed that achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia are allelic based on the similarities in phenotype between the two disorders and the identification of a severely dwarfed individual whose father had achondroplasia and whose mother had hypochondroplasia. There is also genetic linkage evidence that hypochondroplasia and achondroplasia map to the same locus. We therefore began a systematic screening of FGFR3 to detect mutations in patients with hypochondroplasia. We now report a single FGFR3 mutation found in 8 out of 14 unrelated patients with hypochondroplasia. This mutation causes a C to A transversion at nucleotide 1620, resulting in an Asn540Lys substitution in the proximal tyrosine kinase domain.

Achondroplasia↗

Results of cardiovascular surgery in the Marfan syndrome. A retrospective study of 49 patients.

To evaluate the outcome of cardiovascular surgery in the Marfan syndrome, the records of 49 patients (median age 35 years) who underwent 60 operations were reviewed. Primary surgery was elective in 39 patients and emergency in ten. Non-dissecting aneurysm with diameter 4-19 cm was present in 34 cases and distal, isolated aneurysm in four. In eight cases there was type A acute aortic dissection with median diameter 5.0 cm. One patient was operated on for mitral valve insufficiency, one for ventricular septal defect and one (acute) for endocarditis. Composite grafts were used for aortic root reconstruction. Operative complications occurred in 24% of the patients. The 30-day survival was 92%. There were five (10%) late deaths. Survival after a median of 8 years postoperatively was 82%. The early and late results of cardiovascular surgery in the Marfan syndrome thus are concluded to be generally favourable. As late reoperation frequently is needed, however, close monitoring is advocated even after successful primary surgery.

Adolescent↗

Achondroplasia is defined by recurrent G380R mutations of FGFR3.

Genomic DNA from 154 unrelated individuals with achondroplasia was evaluated for mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) transmembrane domain. All but one, an atypical case, were found to have a glycine-to-arginine substitution at codon 380. Of these, 150 had a G-to-A transition at nt 1138, and 3 had a G-to-C transversion at this same position. On the basis of estimates of the prevalence of achondroplasia, the mutation rate at the FGFR3 1138 guanosine nucleotide is two to three orders of magnitude higher than that previously reported for tranversions and transitions in CpG dinucleotides. To date, this represents the most mutable single nucleotide reported in the human genome. The homogeneity of mutations in achondroplasia is unprecedented for an autosomal dominant disorder and may explain the relative lack of heterogeneity in the achondroplasia phenotype.

Achondroplasia↗

Apparently new syndrome of short stature, lumbar malsegmentation, and minor facial anomalies in two brothers.

We describe a previously unrecognized syndrome in two brothers with short stature, webbed neck, unusual face, moderate malsegmentation of the lumbar spine, and unilateral Legg-Perthes-Calvé type "disease" of the hip. Autosomal recessive inheritance is proposed, although we cannot exclude the possibility of an X-linked recessive or an autosomal dominant condition with germinal mosaicism.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

High-resolution genetic mapping of the cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) gene in Amish and Finnish families.

We recently assigned the gene for cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) to chromosome 9 in Finnish families. Here we have extended and refined our previous linkage analyses by studying 22 Amish and 15 Finnish CHH families and by testing additional markers. The CHH gene maps to 9p in both series and shows no evidence of heterogeneity either within or between the populations. CHH is very closely linked to marker locus D9S163, with no recombinations observed and a combined maximum multipoint lod score of 26.30 for a location at D9S163. Although the odds against a location of the CHH gene between two more distal marker loci, D9S52 and D9S165, are only 48:1, the evidence provided by an observed recombination between the CHH locus and D9S165 and haplotype data at D9S165 and D9S163 in the Amish families allow this interval to be excluded as the location of CHH. We observed strong allelic association between CHH and D9S163 in both Amish and Finnish families, confirming the likely location of the CHH gene very close to this marker. Haplotype analysis of D9S163 and D9S165 in the Amish families suggests that only one mutation accounts for most CHH cases among them, as was expected and as is the case in Finland. Our data do not support the previously suggested hypothesis of a reduced penetrance as an explanation for the deficiency of affected children in the Amish families. We conclude that CHH is a single disease entity in the Amish and Finnish families and that the CHH gene is very close to D9S163 in 9p21-p13.

Child↗

Left ventricular function in children with the Marfan syndrome.

Aortic dilatation and heart valve lesions are common in the Marfan syndrome but whether primary alterations occur in left ventricular (LV) function has not been studied hitherto. LV size, mass and systolic as well as diastolic function were studied by M-mode and Doppler echocardiography and cine magnetic resonance imaging in 22 Marfan children aged 3.0-15.4 years and in 22 age-matched healthy children. No child had significant valve disease. Heart rate and systolic blood pressure were comparable in the groups but diastolic blood pressure was higher in the controls (67 +/- 7 mmHg vs 62 +/- 8 mmHg, P = 0.030). No statistically significant differences were found in LV size, mass or systolic function. The Marfan children had slower LV peak diameter lengthening rates (106 +/- 27 mm.s-1 vs 132 +/- 29 mm.s-1, P = 0.004), prolonged relaxation times (155 +/- 22 ms vs 140 +/- 19 ms, P = 0.023), slower deceleration of the early transmitral velocity (580 +/- 144 cm.s-1 vs 720 +/- 160 cm.s-2, P = 0.006), and smaller early-to-late peak velocity ratios (1.99 +/- 0.40 vs 2.29 +/- 0.46, P = 0.031). These data indicate that LV early diastolic function (relaxation) is impaired in the Marfan syndrome. Weakened elastic recoil due to the underlying connective tissue abnormality may best explain this novel observation.

Child↗

High-resolution linkage-disequilibrium mapping of the cartilage-hair hypoplasia gene.

We recently assigned the gene for an autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia, cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH), to 9p21-p13 in Finnish and Amish families. An association was observed between CHH and alleles at D9S163 in both family series, suggesting that these loci are in linkage disequilibrium and close to each other. Here we extended these studies by exploiting the linkage-disequilibrium information that can be obtained from families with a single affected child, and we studied 66 Finnish CHH families with seven microsatellite markers. The analysis based on the Luria and Delbrück (1943) method and adapted to the study of human founder populations suggests that the distance between CHH and D9S163 is approximately 0.3 cM. An eight-point linkage analysis modified to take advantage of all possible information in 15 Finnish and 17 Amish families was capable of narrowing the likely location of CHH to within an interval of 1.7 cM on a male map. The peak lod score of 54.92 was attained 0.03 and 0.1 cM proximal to D9S163 on the male and female maps, respectively. These results confirm the power of genetic resolution, that lies in the study of linkage disequilibrium in well-defined founder populations with one major ancestral disease mutation.

Alleles↗

A mutation in the amino-terminal end of the triple helix of type II collagen causing severe osteochondrodysplasia.

Type II collagen is coded by a large gene (COL2A1) consisting of 54 exons on chromosome 12. During the past few years several cartilage disorders have been linked to this gene, and some specific nucleotide changes have been identified in patients. In a spondyloepiphyseal form of chondrodysplasia, the three mutations found so far are all in exon 48 in the region coding for the carboxyl-terminal end of the triple helix. Since folding of the type II collagen polypeptides to the triple helix is initiated from the carboxyl-terminal end, it has been suggested that mutations in this region typically result in severe cartilage diseases. Here we report a novel mutation located in the area coding for the amino-terminal part of the triple helix in a sporadic patient with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED). The mutation, a substitution of G1063 to A, which results in the conversion of Gly154 to Arg, was identified using exon-specific amplification of genomic DNA and subsequent analyses with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and single-strand conformation polymorphism. The substitution was not found in any other SED patient in Finland. This novel mutation demonstrates that amino acid substitutions in the amino-terminal part of the type II collagen triple helix can also result in SED.

Adolescent↗

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia--clinical manifestations in 108 Finnish patients.

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia is an autosomal recessive metaphyseal chondrodysplasia with short-limbed short stature, hypoplastic hair, and defective immunity and erythrogenesis. We have analysed the clinical outcome of 108 Finnish patients. Birth length was below -2.0 SD in 70% of the patients; the adult heights ranged from -11.4 SD to -5.2 SD. The sitting height percentage was increased in all but 4 patients. Six patients had normal hair. Increased ligamentous laxity was present in 95%, limited extension of the elbows in 92%, increased lumbar lordosis in 85%, thoracal deformity in 68%, genu varum in 63% and scoliosis in 21% of the patients. Defective cellular immunity had been observed in 88% and increased susceptibility to infections in 56% of the patients. Six patients had died of primary infections. The incidence of malignancies was 6%. Childhood anaemia had occurred in 79% of the patients. It was usually mild, but severe in 14 patients. Hirschsprung disease had been observed in 8, anal stenosis in 1 and oesophageal atresia in 1 patient. The intrafamilial variation of the syndrome was considerable as studied in 16 sibships.

Body Height↗

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia gene assigned to chromosome 9 by linkage analysis.

Cartilage-hair hypoplasia (CHH) is an autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia of unknown pathogenesis leading to short-limbed stature. Associated features include hypoplasia of hair, abnormal cellular immunity, deficient erythrogenesis, increased risk of malignancies, Hirschsprung disease, and Diamond-Blackfan type hypoplastic anaemia. We mapped the CHH gene by linkage analysis with 5 markers to chromosome 9. Multipoint linkage analysis gives a lod score of 9.94 for a location between D9S43 and D9S50. Based on strong linkage disequilibrium the closest marker, D9S50, is likely to be less than 1 cM from the gene. No heterogeneity was observed in 14 Finnish families, nor was there evidence of reduced penetrance. These results provide a starting point for the eventual cloning and characterization of the CHH gene.

Chromosome Mapping↗