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Morquio syndrome, also known as
Patients with Morquio syndrome appear healthy at birth. Types A and B have similar presentations, but Type B generally has milder symptoms. The age of onset is usually between 1 and 3 years of age. Morquio syndrome causes progressive changes to the skeleton of the ribs and chest, which may lead to neurological complications such as nerve compression. Patients may also have hearing loss and clouded corneas. Intelligence is usually normal unless a patient has untreated hydrocephalus.
Physical growth slows and often stops around age 8. Skeletal abnormalities include a bell-shaped chest, a flattening or curvature of the
Mucopolysaccharidosis
Mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of metabolic disorders caused by the absence or malfunctioning of lysosome, lysosomal enzymes needed to break down molecules called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). These long chains of sugar carbohydrates occur within ...
Type IV (MPS IV), is a rare metabolic disorder in which the body cannot process certain types of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides are long, linear polysaccharides consisting of repeating disaccharide units (i.e. two-sugar units). The repeating two-sugar unit consists of a uronic sugar and an amino sugar, except in the case ...
(AKA GAGs, or mucopolysaccharides). In Morquio syndrome, the specific GAG which builds up in the body is called keratan sulfate
Keratan sulfate (KS), also called keratosulfate, is any of several sulfated glycosaminoglycans (structural carbohydrates) that have been found especially in the cornea, cartilage, and bone. It is also synthesized in the central nervous system w ...
. This birth defect, which is autosomal recessive
In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...
, is a type of lysosomal storage disorder
Lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs; ) are a group of over 70 rare inherited metabolic disorders that result from defects in lysosomal function. Lysosomes are sacs of enzymes within cells that digest large molecules and pass the fragments on to other ...
. The buildup of GAGs in different parts of the body causes symptoms in many different organ systems. In the US, the incidence rate for Morquio syndrome is estimated at between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 300,000 live births.
Signs and symptoms
Patients with Morquio syndrome appear healthy at birth. Types A and B have similar presentations, but Type B generally has milder symptoms. The age of onset is usually between 1 and 3 years of age. Morquio syndrome causes progressive changes to the skeleton of the ribs and chest, which may lead to neurological complications such as nerve compression. Patients may also have hearing loss and clouded corneas. Intelligence is usually normal unless a patient has untreated hydrocephalus.
Physical growth slows and often stops around age 8. Skeletal abnormalities include a bell-shaped chest, a flattening or curvature of the