| A very rare syndrome that presents with short and sparse scalp hair from birth or the first months of life with no subsequent growth during life. During the first to third decades of life, visual acuity decreases because of progressive macular degeneration, leading in many cases to blindness between the second and fourth decades of life. The hair phenotype does not improve significantly with age, even though diffuse alopecia in infancy can evolve towards short and sparse hair in puberty. Caused by mutations in the CDH3 gene (16q22.1), encoding P-cadherin. P-cadherin is part of adherens junctions in various epithelia including the hair follicular epithelium. Inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. |
