Sanjad-Sakati syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by facial dysmorphia, growth retardation, and congenital hypoparathyroidism. Epidemiologically, this syndrome is primarily observed in children of Arabian descent. However, cases have also been reported in non-Arab countries. Although its exact prevalence is uncertain, the estimated incidence in Saudi Arabia ranges from one in 40,000 to one in 600,000 live births. We report a case of Sanjad-Sakati syndrome in a female infant, born to first-degree consanguineous parents, who presented with convulsive seizures since the age of four months. Laboratory findings indicated severe hypocalcemia and elevated phosphate levels, consistent with congenital hypoparathyroidism. The treatment involved calcium and vitamin D supplementation, which led to a marked improvement in the patient\'s condition. The objective of this clinical case is to highlight an uncommon cause of hypocalcemia and to describe certain clinical and endocrinological manifestations of Sanjad-Sakati syndrome, which is prevalent in the Arab population.

BACKGROUND: Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome was officially documented in 2014. Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is an extremely rare complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by reduced intellectual capacity, motor dysfunction, facial dysmorphism, impaired development, and an increased predisposition to autism spectrum disorder. In addition, many patients also present with neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, and various behavioral abnormalities. Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is challenging to identify solely on the basis of symptoms, and genetic investigations, including exome sequencing, may facilitate diagnosis.
METHODS: We report a case of 13-year-old Saudi patient who presented with dysmorphic features as illustrated in Fig. 1, severe mental retardation, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Initial genetic testing was unremarkable; thus, a clinical exome analysis was performed to identify the genetic basis of the condition.
CONCLUSIONS: Clinical exome analysis indicated an autosomal dominant Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome with a likely pathogenic de novo variant within the activity-dependent neuroprotector homeobox (ADNP) gene not previously reported in Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome. The patient had a right-sided solitary kidney and polycystic ovaries, conditions that were not previously associated with HVDAS.

A neonate born to nonconsanguineous parents was evaluated for dysmorphic features. The neonate was born at term by normal vaginal delivery. The mother has had epilepsy for 12 years and has been on sodium valproate (700 mg/day) since conception and throughout pregnancy. Examination revealed facial dysmorphism, including triangular forehead, sparse arched eyebrows, telecanthus, flat nasal bridge, long thin upper vermilion border, smooth philtrum, and low-set ears. The limb anomalies observed were arachnodactyly, wrist and elbow contractures, clinodactyly, hypoplastic toenails, and overlapping toes. The other dysmorphisms noted were widely spaced nipples and hypospadias. Ultrasonogram (USG) cranium showed bilateral choroid plexus cysts, and USG abdomen revealed bilateral mild hydronephrosis. 2D-Echocardiography revealed a small patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). A diagnosis of fetal valproate syndrome (FVS) was considered, and other differentials, including fetal alcohol syndrome and genetic conditions, were ruled out by a clinical geneticist review. The index neonate is currently on multidisciplinary follow-up. The index neonate had common features of FVS as described in the literature, in addition to wrist and elbow contractures. Apart from the anomalies, there is a significant risk for neurocognitive delay and neurodevelopmental disorders. Postnatally, these babies need multidisciplinary care and neurodevelopmental follow-up. Valproate use for treating epilepsy in pregnant women and women of childbearing age may be restricted, and alternative choices of ASMs with better safety profiles should be preferred. Facial dysmorphism and limb anomalies in fetal valproate syndrome may occur irrespective of the dose of sodium valproate. Fetal valproate syndrome may present with wrist and elbow contractures.

Recognizing Mendelian causes is crucial in molecular diagnostics and counseling for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We explored facial dysmorphism and facial asymmetry in relation to genetic causes in ASD patients and studied the potential of objective facial phenotyping in discriminating between Mendelian and multifactorial ASD. In a cohort of 152 ASD patients, 3D facial images were used to calculate three metrics: a computational dysmorphism score, a computational asymmetry score, and an expert dysmorphism score. High scores for each of the three metrics were associated with Mendelian causes of ASD. The computational dysmorphism score showed a significant correlation with the average expert dysmorphism score. However, in some patients, different dysmorphism aspects were captured making the metrics potentially complementary. The computational dysmorphism and asymmetry scores both enhanced the individual expert dysmorphism scores in differentiating Mendelian from non-Mendelian cases. Furthermore, the computational asymmetry score enhanced the average expert opinion in predicting a Mendelian cause. By design, our study does not allow to draw conclusions on the actual point-of-care use of 3D facial analysis. Nevertheless, 3D morphometric analysis is promising for developing clinical dysmorphology applications in diagnostics and training.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to report a severe phenotype of Arboleda-Tham syndrome in a 20-month-old girl, characterized by global developmental delay, distinct facial features, intellectual disability. Arboleda-Tham syndrome is known for its wide phenotypic spectrum and is associated with truncating variants in the KAT6A gene.
METHODS: To diagnose this case, a combination of clinical phenotype assessment and whole-exome sequencing technology was employed. The genetic analysis involved whole-exome sequencing, followed by confirmation of the identified variant through Sanger sequencing.
RESULTS: The whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel de novo frameshift mutation c.3048del (p.Leu1017Serfs*17) in the KAT6A gene, which is classified as likely pathogenic. This mutation was not found in the ClinVar and HGMD databases and was not present in her parents. The mutation leads to protein truncation or activation of nonsense-mediated mRNA degradation. The mutation is located within exon 16, potentially leading to protein truncation or activation of nonsense-mediated mRNA degradation. Protein modeling suggested that the de novo KAT6A mutation might alter hydrogen bonding and reduce protein stability, potentially damaging the protein structure and function.
CONCLUSIONS: This study expands the understanding of the genetic basis of Arboleda-Tham syndrome, highlighting the importance of whole-exome sequencing in diagnosing cases with varied clinical presentations. The discovery of the novel KAT6A mutation adds to the spectrum of known pathogenic variants and underscores the significance of this gene in the syndrome\'s pathology.

Next-generation phenotyping (NGP) can be used to compute the similarity of dysmorphic patients to known syndromic diseases. So far, the technology has been evaluated in variant prioritization and classification, providing evidence for pathogenicity if the phenotype matched with other patients with a confirmed molecular diagnosis. In a Nigerian cohort of individuals with facial dysmorphism, we used the NGP tool GestaltMatcher to screen portraits prior to genetic testing and subjected individuals with high similarity scores to exome sequencing (ES). Here, we report on two individuals with global developmental delay, pulmonary artery stenosis, and genital and limb malformations for whom GestaltMatcher yielded Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) as the top hit. ES revealed a known pathogenic nonsense variant, NM_133433.4: c.598C>T; p.(Gln200*), as well as a novel frameshift variant c.7948dup; p.(Ile2650Asnfs*11) in NIPBL. Our results suggest that NGP can be used as a screening tool and thresholds could be defined for achieving high diagnostic yields in ES. Training the artificial intelligence (AI) with additional cases of the same ethnicity might further increase the positive predictive value of GestaltMatcher.

Cri-du-chat syndrome is a rare genetic disorder, due to a deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5 (5p-). Its incidence is ranging from 1/15000 to 1/50000 live births. This was a one-day-old male newborn from a non-consanguineous marriage, the first pregnancy uncomplicated and carried to term with a birth weight of 2295g. Clinical examination revealed: craniofacial dysmorphism with hypertelorism and microcephaly, hypotonia, poor suction and clubfoot more marked on the right, the rest of the examination was unremarkable. During hospitalization, a high-pitched monochromatic cry mimicking a cat\'s meow was observed. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization, showing a deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5 (5p15.2). The basic malformative work-up came back without any other abnormalities. The association of a high-pitched monochromatic cry with craniofacial dysmorphism in a newborn should indicate the need for cytogenetic study, in particular fluorescence in siti hybridization.

Noonan syndrome is a genetic, developmental disorder characterized by facial deformities, congenital heart defects, webbed neck, wide space nipples, and growth hormone deficiencies. We report a case of a 15-year-old female patient who presented to the outpatient department with recurrent puffiness of both eyes, easy fatiguability, and dyspnea on exertion. The condition was associated with bilateral proximal muscular weakness of lower limbs with positive Gower\'s sign. On examination, the patient had a webbed neck, hypertelorism, a shielded chest, short stature, and a high-arched palate. Thyroid function tests revealed hypothyroidism. Chromosomal analysis revealed 46 XX. After excluding Turner syndrome on karyotyping, Noonan syndrome with hypothyroidism was diagnosed. The patient was started on levothyroxine and referred to a pediatric endocrinologist for further growth and development assessment. Autoimmune hypothyroidism in a patient with Noonan Syndrome is rare; it may occur as a separate entity or have some genetic susceptibility. Further research is needed to determine the association of autoimmune hypothyroidism with Noonan syndrome.

Otofaciocervical syndrome (OTFCS) is a rare genetic disorder of both autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant patterns of inheritance. It is caused by biallelic or monoallelic mutations in PAX1 or EYA1 genes, respectively. Here, we report an OTFCS2 female patient of 1st consanguineous healthy parents. She manifested facial dysmorphism, hearing loss, intellectual disability (ID), and delayed language development (DLD) as the main clinical phenotype. The novel homozygous variant c.1212dup (p.Gly405Argfs*51) in the PAX1 gene was identified by whole exome sequencing (WES), and family segregation confirmed the heterozygous status of the mutation in the parents using the Sanger sequencing. The study recorded a novel PAX1 variant representing the sixth report of OTFCS2 worldwide and the first Egyptian study expanding the geographic area where the disorder was confined.

Neurodevelopment disorders can result in facial dysmorphisms. Therefore, the analysis of facial images using image processing and machine learning techniques can help construct systems for diagnosing genetic syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders. The systems offer faster and cost-effective alternatives for genotyping tests, particularly when dealing with large-scale applications. However, there are still challenges to overcome to ensure the accuracy and reliability of computer-aided diagnosis systems. This article presents a systematic review of such initiatives, including 55 articles. The main aspects used to develop these diagnostic systems were discussed, namely datasets - availability, type of image, size, ethnicities and syndromes - types of facial features, techniques used for normalization, dimensionality reduction and classification, deep learning, as well as a discussion related to the main gaps, challenges and opportunities.