Summary:
The etiology of Alagille syndrome is genetic heterogenous, about 2/3 cases are due to haploinsuficiency of JAG1
gene either by interstitial microdeletion in region 20p11.23 or by dominant point mutation. Clinical features are
intrahepatic ductular hypo/aplasie, valvular or peripheral pulmonary stenosis, skeletal anomalies (hemivertebra,
„butterfly“ vertebrae), typical long or triangular facies with long nose, anomalies of the eye (posterior embryotoxon
and retinal pigmentary changes) and poor school performance. Phenotype is variable and severity varies widely
and reflects the position and the extension of microdeletion or type of mutation. Incidence of syndrome is about
1:20 000 - 25 000 newborn children while some mild forms can be underdiagnosed. Differentiation between
microdeletion and gene mutation is essential for estimation of genetic prognosis of reproduction in the family.
A girl with Alagille syndrome due to gene mutation is refered and in her father a mosaic form could have not
been excluded.
Key words:
Alagille syndrome, intersticial microdeletion of region 20p11.23, mutation in JAG1 gene, intrahepatic
bilial ducts hypo/aplasia,
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