Progeroid syndrome of De Barsy - a case report and review of ophthalmic literature

Background: This report describes a very rare case of progeroid syndrome of De Barsy (Cutis laxa-corneal clouding syndrome).

Materials and methods: A 2 year-old child presented to the pediatric ophthalmology outpatients with bilateral congenital corneal opacification along with dysmorphic facial features, including loose wrinkled skin, progeroid appearance, delayed milestones, short stature, multiple hyper-extensible joints, muscular hypotonia, pectus excavatum and congenital dislocation of the hip joint. The child underwent a detailed ophthalmic work up and systemic evaluation by a clinical geneticist.

Results: Ophthalmic management in the form of bilateral sequential penetrating keratoplasties and a left eye trabeculectomy for medically uncontrolled angle-closure glaucoma was performed. Visual rehabilitation with glasses and amblyopia therapy is ongoing. Histopathology of the corneal button revealed loss of the bowman's layer which was replaced by a fibrous pannus while the stroma showed loss of stromal lamellar architecture with anterior and mid stroma showing vascularization. Genetic testing confirmed a mutation in the PYCR1 gene for a homozygous autosomal recessive cutis laxa type IIB.

Conclusions: Although rare, De Barsy syndrome is an important cause of corneal opacification at birth with multiple systemic abnormalities that requires intervention.