Virchow Seckel Syndrome: The First Case in Iraq and the Early Documentation of the Syndrome in the Literature.

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Abstract Background: Virchow Seckel syndrome or bird-headed dwarfism syndrome is a very rare genetic syndrome characterized by intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation with very poor growth of the body and head, narrow bird-like face with a peculiar nose, mental retardation and other congenital abnormalities. An autosomal recessive inheritance and a heterogeneous nature of the condition have been expected. This Virchow Seckel syndrome has not been reported in Iraq. Patients and methods: Four years and four months old girl was referred to the pediatric neuropsychiatry clinic of the Children Teaching Hospital of Baghdad Medical City because of significant growth and developmental retardation. The child was studied and the relevant medical literature was reviewed with aim of describing the early documentation of her rare condition in the medical literature. Results: The girl weight at birth was about 1.5 kilograms. She was experiencing very poor growth and her height was 72 cm and her weight 6 kilograms. She had low set ears, small head with narrow face, downward slanting eyebrows and a peculiar nose. She was also mentally retarded with poor language development. Family history was negative for similar cases. Bone age assessment was performed using radiographs of the left and wrist, left elbow, hips and knee and showed delayed bone age of about one year. Conclusion: During the first century of documentation of this syndrome (1882-1981, about 35 were reported in the literature and in this paper, the first case of this syndrome in Iraq is described.