We report a case of severe TBCE-negative phenotypic HRD in a 4-year-old female from India presenting with hypocalcemic seizures due to congenital hypoparathyroidism, extreme microcephaly, growth deficiency, ocular anomalies, and facial dysmorphism.
Hypoparathyroidism-retardation-dysmorphism (HRD; Sanjad-Sakati Syndrome; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man [OMIM] #241410) is a rare recessive syndrome predominantly seen on the Arabian Peninsula and characterized by congenital hypoparathyroidism, intrauterine growth retardation, mental retardation, seizures, and a typical facial dysmorphism (prominent forehead, deep-set eyes, and abnormal external ears).(1,2) To date, the same homozygous deletion in TBCE (155-166del) has been reported in all Saudi Arabian patients with HRD(1) as well as in all Saudi Arabian patients with Kenny-Caffey syndrome (OMIM #244460),(1) a syndrome with a phenotype that resembles that of HRD but is characterized by the presence of normal intelligence, late closure of the anterior fontanelle, macrocephaly, and postnatal (rather than prenatal) growth retardation.