U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

Baraitser-winter syndrome 2(BRWS2)

MedGen UID:
482865
Concept ID:
C3281235
Disease or Syndrome
Synonyms: BARAITSER-WINTER SYNDROME 2; BRWS2
 
Gene (location): ACTG1 (17q25.3)
 
Monarch Initiative: MONDO:0013812
OMIM®: 614583

Disease characteristics

Excerpted from the GeneReview: Baraitser-Winter Cerebrofrontofacial Syndrome
Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial (BWCFF) syndrome is a multiple congenital anomaly syndrome characterized by typical craniofacial features and intellectual disability. Many (but not all) affected individuals have pachygyria that is predominantly frontal, wasting of the shoulder girdle muscles, and sensory impairment due to iris or retinal coloboma and/or sensorineural deafness. Intellectual disability, which is common but variable, is related to the severity of the brain malformations. Seizures, congenital heart defects, renal malformations, and gastrointestinal dysfunction are also common. [from GeneReviews]
Authors:
Alain Verloes  |  Séverine Drunat  |  Daniela Pilz, et. al.   view full author information

Additional description

From MedlinePlus Genetics
Structural brain abnormalities are also present in most people with Baraitser-Winter syndrome. These abnormalities are related to impaired neuronal migration, a process by which nerve cells (neurons) move to their proper positions in the developing brain. The most frequent brain abnormality associated with Baraitser-Winter syndrome is pachygyria, which is an area of the brain that has an abnormally smooth surface with fewer folds and grooves. Less commonly, affected individuals have lissencephaly, which is similar to pachygyria but involves the entire brain surface. These structural changes can cause mild to severe intellectual disability, developmental delay, and seizures.

An unusual facial appearance is the most common characteristic of Baraitser-Winter syndrome. Distinctive facial features can include widely spaced eyes (hypertelorism), large eyelid openings, droopy eyelids (ptosis), high-arched eyebrows, a broad nasal bridge and tip of the nose, a long space between the nose and upper lip (philtrum), full cheeks, and a pointed chin.

Other features of Baraitser-Winter syndrome can include short stature, ear abnormalities and hearing loss, heart defects, presence of an extra (duplicated) thumb, and abnormalities of the kidneys and urinary system. Some affected individuals have limited movement of large joints, such as the elbows and knees, which may be present at birth or develop over time. Rarely, people with Baraitser-Winter syndrome have involuntary muscle tensing (dystonia).

Baraitser-Winter syndrome is a condition that affects the development of many parts of the body, particularly the face and the brain.  https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/baraitser-winter-syndrome

Clinical features

From HPO
Abnormal cardiovascular system morphology
MedGen UID:
892473
Concept ID:
C4049796
Congenital Abnormality
Any structural anomaly of the heart and blood vessels.
Short stature
MedGen UID:
87607
Concept ID:
C0349588
Finding
A height below that which is expected according to age and gender norms. Although there is no universally accepted definition of short stature, many refer to "short stature" as height more than 2 standard deviations below the mean for age and gender (or below the 3rd percentile for age and gender dependent norms).
Abnormal pinna morphology
MedGen UID:
167800
Concept ID:
C0857379
Congenital Abnormality
An abnormality of the pinna, which is also referred to as the auricle or external ear.
Hearing impairment
MedGen UID:
235586
Concept ID:
C1384666
Disease or Syndrome
A decreased magnitude of the sensory perception of sound.
Seizure
MedGen UID:
20693
Concept ID:
C0036572
Sign or Symptom
A seizure is an intermittent abnormality of nervous system physiology characterized by a transient occurrence of signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain.
Corpus callosum, agenesis of
MedGen UID:
104498
Concept ID:
C0175754
Congenital Abnormality
The corpus callosum is the largest fiber tract in the central nervous system and the major interhemispheric fiber bundle in the brain. Formation of the corpus callosum begins as early as 6 weeks' gestation, with the first fibers crossing the midline at 11 to 12 weeks' gestation, and completion of the basic shape by age 18 to 20 weeks (Schell-Apacik et al., 2008). Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is one of the most frequent malformations in brain with a reported incidence ranging between 0.5 and 70 in 10,000 births. ACC is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous condition, which can be observed either as an isolated condition or as a manifestation in the context of a congenital syndrome (see MOLECULAR GENETICS and Dobyns, 1996). Also see mirror movements-1 and/or agenesis of the corpus callosum (MRMV1; 157600). Schell-Apacik et al. (2008) noted that there is confusion in the literature regarding radiologic terminology concerning partial absence of the corpus callosum, where various designations have been used, including hypogenesis, hypoplasia, partial agenesis, or dysgenesis.
Lissencephaly
MedGen UID:
78604
Concept ID:
C0266463
Finding
A spectrum of malformations of cortical development caused by insufficient neuronal migration that subsumes the terms agyria, pachygyria and subcortical band heterotopia. See also neuropathological definitions for 2-, 3-, and 4-layered lissencephaly.
Ventriculomegaly
MedGen UID:
480553
Concept ID:
C3278923
Finding
An increase in size of the ventricular system of the brain.
Intellectual disability
MedGen UID:
811461
Concept ID:
C3714756
Mental or Behavioral Dysfunction
Intellectual disability, previously referred to as mental retardation, is characterized by subnormal intellectual functioning that occurs during the developmental period. It is defined by an IQ score below 70.
Pachygyria
MedGen UID:
504794
Concept ID:
CN001193
Finding
Pachygyria is a malformation of cortical development with abnormally wide gyri with sulci 1,5-3 cm apart and abnormally thick cortex measuring more than 5 mm (radiological definition). See also neuropathological definitions for 2-, 3-, and 4-layered lissencephaly.
Retrognathia
MedGen UID:
19766
Concept ID:
C0035353
Congenital Abnormality
An abnormality in which the mandible is mislocalised posteriorly.
Trigonocephaly
MedGen UID:
82713
Concept ID:
C0265535
Congenital Abnormality
Wedge-shaped, or triangular head, with the apex of the triangle at the midline of the forehead and the base of the triangle at the occiput.
Secondary microcephaly
MedGen UID:
608952
Concept ID:
C0431352
Finding
Head circumference which falls below 2 standard deviations below the mean for age and gender because of insufficient head growth after birth.
Wide mouth
MedGen UID:
44238
Concept ID:
C0024433
Congenital Abnormality
Distance between the oral commissures more than 2 SD above the mean. Alternatively, an apparently increased width of the oral aperture (subjective).
Webbed neck
MedGen UID:
113154
Concept ID:
C0221217
Congenital Abnormality
Pterygium colli is a congenital skin fold that runs along the sides of the neck down to the shoulders. It involves an ectopic fibrotic facial band superficial to the trapezius muscle. Excess hair-bearing skin is also present and extends down the cervical region well beyond the normal hairline.
Telecanthus
MedGen UID:
140836
Concept ID:
C0423113
Finding
Distance between the inner canthi more than two standard deviations above the mean (objective); or, apparently increased distance between the inner canthi.
Short neck
MedGen UID:
99267
Concept ID:
C0521525
Finding
Diminished length of the neck.
Pointed chin
MedGen UID:
336193
Concept ID:
C1844505
Finding
A marked tapering of the lower face to the chin.
Long palpebral fissure
MedGen UID:
340300
Concept ID:
C1849340
Finding
Distance between medial and lateral canthi is more than two standard deviations above the mean for age (objective); or, apparently increased length of the palpebral fissures.
Long philtrum
MedGen UID:
351278
Concept ID:
C1865014
Finding
Distance between nasal base and midline upper lip vermilion border more than 2 SD above the mean. Alternatively, an apparently increased distance between nasal base and midline upper lip vermilion border.
Thin upper lip vermilion
MedGen UID:
355352
Concept ID:
C1865017
Finding
Height of the vermilion of the upper lip in the midline more than 2 SD below the mean. Alternatively, an apparently reduced height of the vermilion of the upper lip in the frontal view (subjective).
Highly arched eyebrow
MedGen UID:
358357
Concept ID:
C1868571
Finding
Increased height of the central portion of the eyebrow, forming a crescent, semicircular, or inverted U shape.
Orofacial cleft
MedGen UID:
472000
Concept ID:
C3266076
Congenital Abnormality
The presence of a cleft (gap, opening, or groove) in the oral cavity, including cleft of the upper lip and/or cleft of the palate. Cleft of the upper lip is visible as a groove or fissure in the lip, most frequently due to a congenital failure of the maxillary and median nasal processes to fuse. Cleft palate is characterized by a grooved depression or fissure in the roof of the mouth, most often resulting from a congenital failure of the palate to fuse properly. Clefts of the lip and palate can occur individually or together. It is preferable to code each defect separately.
Ptosis
MedGen UID:
2287
Concept ID:
C0005745
Disease or Syndrome
The upper eyelid margin is positioned 3 mm or more lower than usual and covers the superior portion of the iris (objective); or, the upper lid margin obscures at least part of the pupil (subjective).
Congenital ocular coloboma
MedGen UID:
1046
Concept ID:
C0009363
Congenital Abnormality
Coloboma is an eye abnormality that occurs before birth. Colobomas are missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye. They may appear as notches or gaps in one of several parts of the eye, including the colored part of the eye called the iris; the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye; the blood vessel layer under the retina called the choroid; or the optic nerves, which carry information from the eyes to the brain.\n\nColobomas may be present in one or both eyes and, depending on their size and location, can affect a person's vision. Colobomas affecting the iris, which result in a "keyhole" appearance of the pupil, generally do not lead to vision loss. Colobomas involving the retina result in vision loss in specific parts of the visual field. Large retinal colobomas or those affecting the optic nerve can cause low vision, which means vision loss that cannot be completely corrected with glasses or contact lenses.\n\nSome people with coloboma also have a condition called microphthalmia. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small. In some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition called anophthalmia, in which no eyeball forms at all. However, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss.\n\nPeople with coloboma may also have other eye abnormalities, including clouding of the lens of the eye (cataract), increased pressure inside the eye (glaucoma) that can damage the optic nerve, vision problems such as nearsightedness (myopia), involuntary back-and-forth eye movements (nystagmus), or separation of the retina from the back of the eye (retinal detachment).\n\nColobomas involving the eyeball should be distinguished from gaps that occur in the eyelids. While these eyelid gaps are also called colobomas, they arise from abnormalities in different structures during early development.\n\nSome individuals have coloboma as part of a syndrome that affects other organs and tissues in the body. These forms of the condition are described as syndromic. When coloboma occurs by itself, it is described as nonsyndromic or isolated.
Hypertelorism
MedGen UID:
9373
Concept ID:
C0020534
Finding
Although hypertelorism means an excessive distance between any paired organs (e.g., the nipples), the use of the word has come to be confined to ocular hypertelorism. Hypertelorism occurs as an isolated feature and is also a feature of many syndromes, e.g., Opitz G syndrome (see 300000), Greig cephalopolysyndactyly (175700), and Noonan syndrome (163950) (summary by Cohen et al., 1995).
Microphthalmia
MedGen UID:
10033
Concept ID:
C0026010
Congenital Abnormality
Microphthalmia is an eye abnormality that arises before birth. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small. In some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition called anophthalmia, in which no eyeball forms at all. However, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss.\n\nPeople with microphthalmia may also have a condition called coloboma. Colobomas are missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye. They may appear as notches or gaps in the colored part of the eye called the iris; the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye; the blood vessel layer under the retina called the choroid; or in the optic nerves, which carry information from the eyes to the brain. Colobomas may be present in one or both eyes and, depending on their size and location, can affect a person's vision.\n\nPeople with microphthalmia may also have other eye abnormalities, including clouding of the lens of the eye (cataract) and a narrowed opening of the eye (narrowed palpebral fissure). Additionally, affected individuals may have an abnormality called microcornea, in which the clear front covering of the eye (cornea) is small and abnormally curved.\n\nBetween one-third and one-half of affected individuals have microphthalmia as part of a syndrome that affects other organs and tissues in the body. These forms of the condition are described as syndromic. When microphthalmia occurs by itself, it is described as nonsyndromic or isolated.

Term Hierarchy

CClinical test,  RResearch test,  OOMIM,  GGeneReviews,  VClinVar  

Professional guidelines

PubMed

Drury S, Williams H, Trump N, Boustred C; GOSGene, Lench N, Scott RH, Chitty LS
Prenat Diagn 2015 Oct;35(10):1010-7. Epub 2015 Sep 11 doi: 10.1002/pd.4675. PMID: 26275891

Recent clinical studies

Etiology

Drury S, Williams H, Trump N, Boustred C; GOSGene, Lench N, Scott RH, Chitty LS
Prenat Diagn 2015 Oct;35(10):1010-7. Epub 2015 Sep 11 doi: 10.1002/pd.4675. PMID: 26275891
Verloes A, Di Donato N, Masliah-Planchon J, Jongmans M, Abdul-Raman OA, Albrecht B, Allanson J, Brunner H, Bertola D, Chassaing N, David A, Devriendt K, Eftekhari P, Drouin-Garraud V, Faravelli F, Faivre L, Giuliano F, Guion Almeida L, Juncos J, Kempers M, Eker HK, Lacombe D, Lin A, Mancini G, Melis D, Lourenço CM, Siu VM, Morin G, Nezarati M, Nowaczyk MJ, Ramer JC, Osimani S, Philip N, Pierpont ME, Procaccio V, Roseli ZS, Rossi M, Rusu C, Sznajer Y, Templin L, Uliana V, Klaus M, Van Bon B, Van Ravenswaaij C, Wainer B, Fry AE, Rump A, Hoischen A, Drunat S, Rivière JB, Dobyns WB, Pilz DT
Eur J Hum Genet 2015 Mar;23(3):292-301. Epub 2014 Jul 23 doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.95. PMID: 25052316Free PMC Article

Diagnosis

Göbel T, Berninger L, Schlump A, Feige B, Runge K, Nickel K, Schiele MA, van Elst LT, Hotz A, Alter S, Domschke K, Tzschach A, Endres D
J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2022 Nov;129(11):1387-1391. Epub 2022 Oct 7 doi: 10.1007/s00702-022-02544-y. PMID: 36205783Free PMC Article
Dawidziuk M, Kutkowska-Kazmierczak A, Bukowska-Olech E, Jurek M, Kalka E, Guilbride DL, Furmanek MI, Bekiesinska-Figatowska M, Bal J, Gawlinski P
Int J Mol Sci 2022 Jan 8;23(2) doi: 10.3390/ijms23020692. PMID: 35054877Free PMC Article
Cianci P, Fazio G, Casagranda S, Spinelli M, Rizzari C, Cazzaniga G, Selicorni A
Am J Med Genet A 2017 Feb;173(2):546-549. Epub 2016 Nov 21 doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.38057. PMID: 27868373
Verloes A, Di Donato N, Masliah-Planchon J, Jongmans M, Abdul-Raman OA, Albrecht B, Allanson J, Brunner H, Bertola D, Chassaing N, David A, Devriendt K, Eftekhari P, Drouin-Garraud V, Faravelli F, Faivre L, Giuliano F, Guion Almeida L, Juncos J, Kempers M, Eker HK, Lacombe D, Lin A, Mancini G, Melis D, Lourenço CM, Siu VM, Morin G, Nezarati M, Nowaczyk MJ, Ramer JC, Osimani S, Philip N, Pierpont ME, Procaccio V, Roseli ZS, Rossi M, Rusu C, Sznajer Y, Templin L, Uliana V, Klaus M, Van Bon B, Van Ravenswaaij C, Wainer B, Fry AE, Rump A, Hoischen A, Drunat S, Rivière JB, Dobyns WB, Pilz DT
Eur J Hum Genet 2015 Mar;23(3):292-301. Epub 2014 Jul 23 doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.95. PMID: 25052316Free PMC Article
Di Donato N, Rump A, Koenig R, Der Kaloustian VM, Halal F, Sonntag K, Krause C, Hackmann K, Hahn G, Schrock E, Verloes A
Eur J Hum Genet 2014 Feb;22(2):179-83. Epub 2013 Jun 12 doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2013.130. PMID: 23756437Free PMC Article

Therapy

Cianci P, Fazio G, Casagranda S, Spinelli M, Rizzari C, Cazzaniga G, Selicorni A
Am J Med Genet A 2017 Feb;173(2):546-549. Epub 2016 Nov 21 doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.38057. PMID: 27868373

Prognosis

Greve JN, Marquardt A, Heiringhoff R, Reindl T, Thiel C, Di Donato N, Taft MH, Manstein DJ
Elife 2024 Mar 6;12 doi: 10.7554/eLife.93013. PMID: 38446501Free PMC Article
Eggink H, van Egmond ME, Verschuuren-Bemelmans CC, Schönherr MC, de Koning TJ, Oterdoom DL, van Dijk JM, Tijssen MA
Mov Disord 2017 Jan;32(1):162-165. Epub 2016 Nov 8 doi: 10.1002/mds.26842. PMID: 27862284

Clinical prediction guides

Greve JN, Marquardt A, Heiringhoff R, Reindl T, Thiel C, Di Donato N, Taft MH, Manstein DJ
Elife 2024 Mar 6;12 doi: 10.7554/eLife.93013. PMID: 38446501Free PMC Article
Greve JN, Schwäbe FV, Pokrant T, Faix J, Di Donato N, Taft MH, Manstein DJ
Eur J Cell Biol 2022 Apr;101(2):151216. Epub 2022 Mar 15 doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2022.151216. PMID: 35313204
Bhoj EJ, Haye D, Toutain A, Bonneau D, Nielsen IK, Lund IB, Bogaard P, Leenskjold S, Karaer K, Wild KT, Grand KL, Astiazaran MC, Gonzalez-Nieto LA, Carvalho A, Lehalle D, Amudhavalli SM, Repnikova E, Saunders C, Thiffault I, Saadi I, Li D, Hakonarson H, Vial Y, Zackai E, Callier P, Drunat S, Verloes A
Eur J Med Genet 2019 Dec;62(12):103588. Epub 2018 Nov 22 doi: 10.1016/j.ejmg.2018.11.022. PMID: 30472488Free PMC Article

Supplemental Content

Table of contents

    Clinical resources

    Practice guidelines

    • PubMed
      See practice and clinical guidelines in PubMed. The search results may include broader topics and may not capture all published guidelines. See the FAQ for details.

    Recent activity

    Your browsing activity is empty.

    Activity recording is turned off.

    Turn recording back on

    See more...