Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and twinning: case report and brief review of literature

Abstract

BackgroundBeckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS, OMIM #130,650) is a pediatric overgrowth disorder involving a predisposition to tumor development. Although the clinical management of affected patients is well established, it is less clear how to handle with the cases of siblings of affected patients, since the prevalence of the condition in twins (1:1000) is ten times higher than in singletones (1:10000).Case presentationWe report the case of a premature twin patient who during her follow-up develops a clinical phenotype compatible with BWS, genetically confirmed in blood. However, the methylation alteration characteristic of the condition was also found in the almost phenotypically normal sibling, making it challening her management.ConclusionThrough our case report we highlight how the diagnosis of BWS can be made without any prenatal suspicion and we propose a review of the literature on how to manage siblings of affected patients in twinning situation.