Objective: To delineate the clinical features in patients with the autosomal recessive camptodactyly-arthropathy-coxa vara-pericarditis syndrome (CACP) and to determine the location of the involved gene.
Methods: Eight affected individuals (ages 2-15 years) with CACP from 4 consanguineous kindreds were clinically evaluated. Four patients are newly described and 4 have been reported previously. Findings were compared with those in 21 other previously reported cases. DNA obtained from the 8 affected patients and their available siblings and parents was used in a genome-wide search for linkage.
Results: Congenital camptodactyly and childhood-onset noninflammatory arthropathy were present in all affected patients. Seven patients developed bilateral coxa vara deformity, and 1 developed coxa magna with cystic erosions. Two of the patients also had symptoms or signs of pericarditis. A genome-wide search for linkage identified homozygosity for a series of genetic markers on human chromosome 1q in all affected patients. The marker D1S191 yielded a maximum logarithm of the odds ratio (LOD score) of 3.3 at theta = 0. The CACP gene lies within a 1.9-cM candidate interval defined by the markers D1S2107 and D1S222.
Conclusion: The principal features of the CACP syndrome are congenital or early-onset camptodactyly and childhood-onset noninflammatory arthropathy. Coxa vara deformity or other dysplasia associated with progressive hip disease may develop over time. Clinical pericarditis may also occur. A locus responsible for causing CACP syndrome is assigned to a 1.9-cM interval on human chromosome 1q25-31 by homozygosity mapping. This now facilitates the identification of the responsible gene and permits testing for locus homogeneity in other CACP kindreds.