| Are you excessively tall? Do you have long bones | | | | “His fingers are long and slender (spider |
| that aren’t proportionate to the rest of your | | | | fingers). Weakness of ligaments, tendons and joint |
| body? Perhaps you have Marfan’s syndrome. | | | | capsules results in joints that are loose, |
| Marfan's syndrome (arachnodactyly) is a rare | | | | hyperextensible, and habitually dislocated. |
| inherited disorder of connective tissue that causes | | | | Excessive growth of the rib bones give rise to |
| defects in the eyes, skeleton and cardiovascular | | | | chest deformities," she added. |
| system. It affects both males and females and | | | | Other symptoms are pectus excavatum (funnel |
| may occur any time from early infancy to | | | | breast), frequent hernia and scoliosis (the |
| adulthood. | | | | sideways curvature of the spine). Death from |
| The symptoms of Marfan's syndrome develop | | | | Marfan's syndrome is often due to cardiovascular |
| gradually over the years. These include long | | | | complications. |
| slender bones which make a person excessively | | | | In severe cases, the elastic fibers in the media |
| tall, long slender fingers and toes, heart defects | | | | (middle layer) of the aorta (the main artery of |
| and a partial dislocation of the lenses of the eyes. | | | | the body) may be damaged, leading to aneurysm |
| "The most common signs of this disease are | | | | (a ballonlike swelling). |
| skeletal abnormalities particularly excessively long | | | | There is no specific test for Marfan's syndrome |
| tubular bones and an arm span exceeding the | | | | and the diagnosis is made mainly on its |
| patient's height. Usually the patient is taller than | | | | symptoms. Treatment is aimed at relieving |
| average for his family, with the upper half of his | | | | symptoms and preventing complications. These |
| body shorter than average and the lower half, | | | | include surgery to repair aneurysm, eye defects |
| longer,” according to Helen L. Davis of the | | | | and spinal curvature, and hormone therapy to |
| Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia | | | | stop the patient from growing abnormally tall. |
| in “Diseases.” | | | | |