Brooke–Spiegler Syndrome: Familial Cylindromatosis, a Rare Variant of a Rare Familial Syndrome

Brooke–Spiegler Syndrome (BSS) is a rare autosomal dominant familial disorder resulting in dermatologic neoplasms of copious nodular appendages. Here, we report a case of Familial Cylindromatosis (FC), a subtype of BSS, in a patient with the largest cylindroma of 7.4 × 5.6 × 3.8 cm on the scalp. The patient had undiagnosed cylindromas growing for 36 years at presentation; however, he did not seek out healthcare evaluation. Excision and pathologic investigation of three large masses from different body sites determined a shared phenotype of cylindromas. Subsequent evaluation of the patient's son separately, after primary patient excision, confirmed cylindroma development as well. The pathologic evidence of cylindromas in the patient with a new history of family incidence confirmed the diagnosis of the FC variant of BSS.

A familial syndrome of hypothalamic hamartomas, polydactyly, and SMO mutations: a clinical report of 2 cases

Hypothalamic hamartomas are benign tumors known to cause gelastic or dacrystic seizures, precocious puberty, developmental delay, and medically refractory epilepsy. These tumors are most often sporadic but rarely can be associated with Pallister-Hall syndrome, an autosomal dominant familial syndrome caused by truncation of glioblastoma transcription factor 3, a downstream effector in the sonic hedgehog pathway. In this clinical report, the authors describe two brothers with a different familial syndrome. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report in the literature describing a familial syndrome caused by germline mutations in the Smoothened (SMO) gene and the first familial syndrome associated with hypothalamic hamartomas other than Pallister-Hall syndrome. The authors discuss the endoscopic endonasal biopsy and subtotal resection of a large hypothalamic hamartoma in one of the patients as well as the histopathological findings encountered. Integral to this discussion is the understanding of the hedgehog pathway; therefore, the underpinnings of this pathway and its clinical associations to date are also reviewed.