Retinitis pigmentosa, metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, and brachydactyly: an affected brother and sister

A brother and sister, children of normal parents are described. They had retinitis pigmentosa, causing near-blindness as a result of very narrow fields of vision, associated with metaphyseal chondrodysplasia and marked shortening of the metacarpals and terminal phalanges. Autosomal recessive inheritance is suggested with a common biochemical cause for all these defects. This apparently new association of retinitis pigmentosa with a systemic bone dysplasia emphasises that this not uncommon clinical diagnosis has a variety of different possible causes.