Pycnodysostosis is characterized by short stature, osteosclerosis, acro-osteolysis, increased tendency of fractures, and distinctive dysmorphic features. It is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by biallelic CTSK mutations. The clinical details of 18 patients from Saudi Arabia were reviewed. Short stature, osteopetrosis, acro-osteolysis, and distinctive facial dysmorphism were documented in all cases. Our results highlight the significant complications associated with this disease. The large anterior fontanelle is one of the cardinal signs of this disease; however, half of our patients had small fontanelles and a quarter had craniosynostosis, which caused optic nerve compression. Sleep apnea was of the major complications in three patients. Bone fracture can be a presenting symptom, and in our patients it mainly occurred after the age of 3 years. Bone marrow suppression was seen in a single patient of our cohort who was misdiagnosed initially with malignant osteopetrosis. In this study, we also describe two novel (c.5G > A [p.Trp2Ter], c.538G > A [p.Gly180Ser]) and two reported (c.244-29 A > G, c.830C > T [p.Ala277Val]) CTSK mutations. Our results indicate that the recurrent intronic variant, c.244-29 A > G is likely to be a founder mutation, as it was found in 78% (14/18 patients) of our cohort belonging to the same tribe.
Keywords: CTSK; acro-osteolysis; cathepsin K; osteopetrosis; pycnodysostosis.
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