Waardenburg syndrome | Health Encyclopedia | UF Health Jacksonville
Home Health Encyclopedia Waardenburg syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a group of conditions passed down through families. The syndrome involves deafness and pale skin, hair, and eye color.
Waardenburg syndrome is most often inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. This means only one parent has to pass on the faulty gene for a child to be affected.
There are 4 main types of Waardenburg syndrome. The most common are type I and type II.
Type III (Klein-Waardenburg syndrome) and type IV (Waardenburg-Shah syndrome) are rarer.
The multiple types of this syndrome result from defects in different genes. Most people with this disease have a parent with the disease, but the symptoms in the parent can be quite different from those in the child.
Deafness (more common in type II disease)
Pale color skin, hair, and eyes (partial albinism)
Difficulty completely straightening joints
Wide-set eyes (in type I)
Less common types of this disease may cause problems with the arms or intestines.
There is no specific treatment. Symptoms will be treated as needed. Special diets and medicines to keep the bowel moving are prescribed to those people who have constipation. Hearing should be checked closely.
Once hearing problems are corrected, most people with this syndrome should be able to lead a normal life. Those with rarer forms of the syndrome may have other complications.
Genetic counseling may be helpful if you have a family history of Waardenburg syndrome and plan to have children. Call for a hearing test if you or your child has deafness or decreased hearing.
Milunsky JM. Waardenburg syndrome type I. GeneReviews. Seattle WA: University of Washington; 2014:8. Accessed August 1, 2015. PMID: 20301703 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20301703.