INHERITANCE OF ARACHNODACTYLY, ECTOPIA LENTIS AND OTHER CONGENITAL ANOMALIES (MARFAN'S SYNDROME) IN THE E. FAMILY

Abstract

MARFAN'S disease is a syndrome which in its fullest expression is characterized by an elongate, slender body build, especially evident in the extremities; skeletal deformities (kyphosis, scoliosis, pigeon breasts, pes planus, hammer toes); dolichocephalic skull; poorly developed and hypotonic musculature; laxity of the joints and ligaments; scanty subcutaneous fat; malformation of the ears; malformations of the lungs; congenital heart disease and ocular anomalies, especially ectopia lentis. There is great variability in the degree to which these traits are expressed. The numerous publications which have appeared since the condition was first described by Marfan¹ in 1896, have been reviewed by Weve,² Burch,³ Marfan,⁴ Futcher and Southworth,⁵ Clement⁶ and Rados,⁷ to whose papers the reader is referred for a complete bibliography and discussion of the syndrome. The articles by Lloyd⁸ stimulated interest in the syndrome among American ophthalmologists. The present communication will describe an