Oro-Facial Finding in a Patient with the Cat Cry Syndrome

Abstract

Cat Ccry syndrome is a disorder due to the partial deletion of the short arm of the fifth chromosome. Thus, it is called also the 5p-syndrome and characterized by a cat-like cry during infancy, manifesting severe mental retardation. However only a few have been made to research the dental and craniofacial abnormalities. The findings of the 16-year-old boy affected with the Cat Cry syndrome, who had underwent a dental caries treatment under the general anesthesia at Kyushu University Dental Hospital, were as follows.
1. Chromosomal examination showed partial deletion of the short arm of the fifth chromosome.
2. Ocular hypertelorism, oblique palpebral fissures, squint, left preauricular ear tag and osteoarthritis of the spine were observed.
3. Tooth eruption was delayed, although congenital missing or abnormal form of the permanent teeth were not observed. The mesio-distal and bucco-lingual diameters of the teeth were larger than normal.
4. Severe crowding was observed in both of the upper and lower dental arches and also anterior open bite might be associated with finger sucking.
5. Cephalometric analysis showed a micrognathia of the mandible, while the facial asymmetry was shown especially around the orbit and both jaws.
6. The patient received a dental treatment under general anesthesia because he had a severe mental retardation and could not cooperate at the chair side in the clinics.
7. Recession of the labial gingiva of the lower anterior teeth may become worse due to self-injury with a mental door key.