Inherited Skin Disease | Medibuddy
10th July 2023

Inherited Skin Disease

There are a multitude of genetic conditions that have associated skin manifestations (see table).

Condition Description
Ataxia Telangiectasia  Autosomal recessive 

Mucocutaneous telangiectasia 

Increased risk of lymphoma and leukaemia

Cowden Syndrome Trichilemmomas 

Warty hyperplasia of mucosal surfaces

Associated with breast and thyroid carcinoma

Darier disease  Autosomal dominant

Scaly crusted papules in a seborrhoeic distribution

ATP2A2

Gardner syndrome  Epidermal cysts, lipomas, and fibromas

Associated with colonic carcinoma 

Gorlin syndrome  Basal cell naevus syndrome

Multiple basal cell carcinomas 

Associated with brain tumours and ovarian cancer

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia  Autosomal dominant 

20% spontaneous

Diagnostic criteria include telangiectasias, visceral bleeding, epistaxis, AV malformations, and first-degree relative involvement.

Howel-Evans syndrome  Tylosis

Associated with oesophageal carcinoma 

LEOPARD syndrome  L – lentigines (multiple brown-black spots on the skin)

E – electrocardiographic (ECG) conduction defects

O – ocular hypertelorism

P – pulmonary stenosis

A – abnormalities of genitals

R – retarded growth resulting in short stature

D – deafness or hearing loss due to inner ear malfunction

Mild inherited ichthyosis  Autosomal dominant

Incomplete penetrance

Neurofibromatosis  6 or more café-au-lait macules 

Axillary freckling 

Neurofibromas 

Associated with malignant schwannomas and astrocytoma

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome  Mucocutaneous pigmentation (especially in the perioral region)

Associated with gastrointestinal malignancy

Sturge-Weber syndrome  Port wine stain 

Associated with vascular meningeal malformation and epilepsy

Tuberous sclerosis  Angiofibromas 

Periungual fibromas 

Shagreen patches 

Ash leaf macules 

Associated with sarcomas and rhabdomyomas

Von hippel Lindau syndrome  Café-au-lait macules

Haemangiomas 

Associated with vascular tumours, phaeochromocytomas, renal and pancreatic carcinoma

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome  X-linked inheritance

Eczema

Immunodeficiency

Increased risk of lymphoma and leukaemia

Table 6: Inherited conditions with dermatological manifestations.

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