A neuropathological study of early onset cockayne syndrome with chromosomal anomaly 47XXX

Abstract

We present the clinical and neuropathological findings in a female patient with early onset Cockayne syndrome and a chromosomal anomaly (47XXX). The girl was the only child of healthy, unrelated parents. She was born with a birth weight of 1,930 gm. She had progeroid facial features with bilateral cataracts. A diagnosis of 47XXX was made on the basis of a chromosomal study. Physical shortness became increasingly prominent while her weight remained stationary. Psychomotor retardation was noted, and she could never sit alone. A brain CT scan showed cerebral atrophy and calcification of the basal ganglia. Cultured skin fibroblast exhibited significant sensitivity to the ultraviolet light. She died from a chest infection at the age of 7 years and 4 months. Microscopically, the renal glomeruli showed diffuse sclerotic changes with thick capillary basement membranes. A neuropathological examination revealed a very small brain (295 gm), extensive myelin deficiency, gliosis in the white matter, and calcifications in the basal ganglia, and cerebral and cerebellar cortices. The loss of both Purkinje and granular cells was noticed in the cerebellar cortex. This is the first report of a case with the Cockayne syndrome and 47XXX, and the 47XXX in this patient seems to be coincidental.