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Thirty-two cases of this syndrome have been reported to date. In 1868 Rothmund first described the combination of a cutaneous condition which appears to have been scleroderma with precocious development of bilateral cataract. He reported 5 cases of this syndrome in the same family; 3 other members of the family presented only cutaneous changes. The patients were all young children. Since this report the disease has been identified as Rothmund's syndrome. Werner in 1904 described 4 such cases in 1 family, definitely designating the cutaneous condition as scleroderma. In 1934 Oppenheimer and Kugel reported 2 cases of this condition, which they called Werner's syndrome.
In 1931 H. Mamou reviewed the subject carefully and collected reports of 30 cases from the literature. He suggested parathyroid dysfunction as the basic cause.
This disease is a hereditary and familial disorder characterized by precocious development of bilateral cataract, early graying of the hair, premature