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A Useful Aid in the Diagnosis of the Marfan Syndrome

ROSWELL ELDRIDGE, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1964;113(2):248-254.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Early diagnosis of the Marfan syndrome may permit modification of the often lethal cardiovascular changes and alleviation of the more disabling ocular and musculoskeletal complications.^1-3 Given the classical triad of long, thin, and loosely jointed bones, dislocation of the crystalline lens with tremulous irides, and dilatation of the ascending aorta with aortic valve insufficiency, the diagnosis of the Marfan syndrome is easily made, especially if relatives are known to have similar changes. But in cases where only equivocal features are present a firm diagnosis can be difficult, if not impossible, to make.

The ocular and cardiovascular changes are highly suggestive of the Marfan syndrome; but it is the musculoskeletal involvement that most frequently brings the diagnosis to mind. Indeed, in the first cases reported, only the skeletal abnormalities were noted. Marfan, in 1896, described a five-year-old girl with unusually long, slender arms and legs whose long, thin fingers were . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
DALLAS

Assistant Resident, Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital.; From the Department of Medicine, Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital and the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School.

Footnotes
Received for publication Sept 16, 1963; accepted Oct 1.

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