Abstract

Eighty-three cases of multiple congenital joint contractures, i.e., arthrogryposis, which were related with either a stillborn fetus, a termination of pregnancy following prenatal diagnosis or death within 28 days postnatally, were studied. Sixty-seven cases were neurogenic in origin, including forty-one with the lethal congenital contracture syndrome (LCCS, McKusick 253310), fifteen with milder anterior horn cell involvement, and ten with dysgenesis and degeneration of the CNS. Congenital muscular dystrophy was seen in two cases and nemaline myopathy in one case. A non-neuromuscular basis was established in ten cases, and the cause remained obscure in three cases. Apart from the autosomal recessive LCCS, the fifteen cases with anterior horn cell involvement made up a uniform clinico-pathological entity. In two families this disease recurred twice, and autosomal recessive inheritance is therefore likely. Recurrence was also seen twice in a family with central nervous system degeneration and in another with the oligohydramnios sequence. There are apparently several recessively inherited entities among the arthrogryposis phenotype. A careful clinical study and a neuropathological examination are essential for estimating the recurrence risk.