Hand-foot-genital syndrome

Description

Hand-foot-genital syndrome is a rare condition that affects the development of the hands and feet, the urinary tract, and the reproductive system. People with this condition have abnormally short thumbs and first (big) toes, small fifth fingers that curve inward (clinodactyly), and short feet. The bones in the wrists and ankles may be fused in people with this condition, or hardening of these bones may be delayed. The other bones in the arms and legs are normal.

Abnormalities of the genitals and urinary tract can vary among affected individuals. Many people with hand-foot-genital syndrome have defects in the ureters, which are tubes that carry urine from each kidney to the bladder, or in the urethra, which carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. Recurrent urinary tract infections and an inability to control the flow of urine (urinary incontinence) have been reported. About half of males with this disorder have the urethra opening on the underside of the penis (hypospadias).

People with hand-foot-genital syndrome are usually able to have children (fertile). In some affected females, problems in the early development of the uterus can later increase the risk of pregnancy loss, premature labor, and stillbirth.

Frequency

Hand-foot-genital syndrome is very rare; only a few families with the condition have been reported worldwide.

Causes

Variants (also called mutations) in the HOXA13 gene cause hand-foot-genital syndrome. The HOXA13 gene provides instructions for producing a protein that plays an important role in development before birth. Specifically, this protein appears to be critical for the formation and development of the limbs (particularly the hands and feet), urinary tract, and reproductive system.

Variants in the HOXA13 gene cause the characteristic features of hand-foot-genital syndrome by disrupting the early development of these structures. Some variants in the HOXA13 gene cause nonfunctional versions of the HOXA13 protein to be produced. Other variants alter the protein's structure and interfere with its normal function within cells. Variants that result in an altered but functional HOXA13 protein may cause more severe signs and symptoms of hand-foot-genital syndrome than variants that lead to a nonfunctional version of this protein.

Inheritance

This condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder.

Autosomal dominant inheritance. Credit: U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Other Names for This Condition

• Hand-foot-uterus syndrome
• HFG syndrome
• HFGS
• HFU syndrome

Where this page came from

This page was imported from MedlinePlus Genetics, National Library of Medicine. Courtesy of MedlinePlus from the National Library of Medicine; its genetics summaries and the illustrations credited to the library are in the public domain. Pictures credited to others are not copied.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.