Pfeiffer Syndrome | Symptoms & Causes
What are the symptoms of Pfeiffer syndrome?
Pfeiffer syndrome is a complex genetic disorder that affects your child’s head, face, hands, and feet. Clinical features vary for different children and range from mild to severe. Pfeiffer syndrome may include:
- Craniosynostosis: Premature (early) closure of growth plates of the skull that changes the shape of the head and can put increased pressure on the brain. This makes skulls appear “too tall” and overly flat from the middle part of their faces upward.
- Midfacial hypoplasia: Decreased growth of the middle of the face, causing a sunken facial appearance. This can also cause potential airway obstruction, sleep apnea, and a concave facial profile.
- Proptosis: Protruding, unprotected eyes
- Brachydactyly: Unusually short fingers and toes
- Syndactyly: Webbing or fusion between the fingers or toes
Other features of the condition may include:
- crowded teeth
- cleft palate
- some hearing loss, due to a defect in the middle ear
- fused (joined) spinal bones
- wide thumbs and big toes that bend away from the other digits
What causes Pfeiffer syndrome?
Pfeiffer syndrome is caused by a specific mutation (change) in a gene called fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR1 or FGFR2). This gene is also involved in other craniofacial anomalies such as Crouzon syndrome and Apert syndrome.
Experts do not know the exact cause of these gene mutations.
Most parents who have a baby with Pfeiffer syndrome have normal genes. However, children with Pfeiffer syndrome can pass the gene on to their children. A parent with Pfeiffer syndrome has a 50 percent chance of having a baby who also has Pfeiffer syndrome. If you have Pfeiffer syndrome and wish to have children, our geneticist can meet with you to discuss the risks and help you make a thoughtful, informed decision.
Pfeiffer Syndrome | Diagnosis & Treatments
How we diagnose Pfeiffer syndrome
Pfeiffer syndrome is usually diagnosed at birth, based on the appearance of your child’s face and skull. Our expert craniofacial team will confirm a diagnosis of this condition and help you make decisions about your child’s care. A trained craniofacial surgeon and geneticist will evaluate your baby and may order an x-ray and/or a computed tomography (CT) scan to confirm the diagnosis. Genetic testing may also be done using a sample of blood or saliva.
How we treat Pfeiffer syndrome
Pfeiffer syndrome is complex and involves several parts of your child’s face, head, and limbs. Because Pfeiffer syndrome involves the skull and face, it can also affect your child’s hearing, feeding, speech, and dental functions. Your child may require several treatments and surgeries to repair these anomalies. These procedures are very successful.
At Boston Children’s Hospital, our dedicated team of specialists will provide your child with the broad range of treatment and follow-up care that this rare and complex condition requires.
Advanced treatments for Pfeiffer syndrome at Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston Children’s Hospital provides the most advanced treatments available for Pfeiffer syndrome and other craniofacial anomalies, including:
Minimally invasive skull repair: For many patients, our doctors can release bands of tissue that connect the bones of the skull (called sutures) through several small incisions — instead of traditional open surgery. Offered during the first few months of a child’s life, this procedure helps to correct the shape of the skull and provides room for the brain to grow. After this procedure, your child will be fitted with a special, temporary helmet to correct the shape of the skull.
Fronto-orbital advancement: If minimally invasive (endoscopic) treatment is not an option for your child, surgery to correct the skull can be provided when your child is between 9 and 11 months. During this procedure, our world-renowned plastic surgeons and neurosurgeons will work together to release the fused sutures and reshape the skull. They will use a zigzag incision technique, which helps camouflage the scar and makes the incision less visible.
Le Fort Advancements: These upper jaw surgeries correct abnormalities of the maxilla (upper jaw), including the way the teeth align. They involve sectioning (cutting) and repositioning the upper jaw to correct its abnormal position. Our advanced 3-D imaging technology enables our surgeons to create a precise surgical plan for your child.
Distraction osteogenesis: A procedure that moves two segments of a bone slowly apart so that new bone fills in the gap. During this procedure, a surgeon makes a break (called an osteotomy) in the abnormal bone and attaches a device known as a distractor to both sides of the osteotomy. This distractor is gradually adjusted over a period of days to stretch the gap and enable new tissue to fill it in. This procedure often follows a Le Fort advancement procedure.
Airway treatments: If your child is born with a blocked airway as a result of this condition, our otolaryngology, sleep medicine, and/or pulmonary specialists will provide an expert diagnosis and an immediate plan for treatment. At Boston Children’s Hospital, airway obstructions can be treated in many ways. Our world-renowned surgeons offer the most advanced treatments available. These options include:
- wearing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask
- tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy
- midfacial advancement (also called a “Le Fort III”)
- In severe cases, placement of a tracheostomy (a surgical procedure creating an opening through the neck into the windpipe) may be needed until your child is old enough to undergo other operations.
Dental Treatment: The abnormal shape of the face can also affect the position of the teeth and the occlusion (the fitting together of the upper and lower teeth when the jaw is closed). Many children have an under bite, as well as misaligned teeth. Delayed tooth eruption is also common. Your child should visit a pediatric dentist when the teeth start to come in — no later than 2 to 3 years of age.
Why choose Boston Children’s Hospital for Pfeiffer syndrome care
Families seeking the very best care for their child come to the Craniofacial Program at Boston Children’s for our:
- Nationally recognized care: U.S. News & World Report ranks Boston Children's Hospital among the best children's hospitals
- Experience in craniofacial anomalies: We care for more than 500 patients every year with a range of craniofacial conditions. Our extensive experience and commitment to innovative and compassionate care have established us as a national leader in treating children with conditions such as Pfeiffer syndrome.
- Surgical expertise: Our plastic surgeons and neurosurgeons are world renowned for their advanced surgical techniques and precision in treating this complex craniofacial anomaly.
- Team approach: Because Pfeiffer syndrome involves the skull and face, it can affect a child’s hearing, feeding, speech, and dental functions. At Boston Children’s Hospital, our dedicated and knowledgeable team of specialists from several disciplines provides you and your child customized and collaborative care.
- Research and innovation: Our clinicians are involved in research that moves us closer to a better understanding of — and treatment for — all deformities of the head and face.
Make an appointment
For an appointment with the Cleft and Craniofacial Center, more information, or to obtain a second opinion for your child, please call us at 1-617-355-6309 or email our program coordinator, samantha.hall@childrens.harvard.edu.
International patients
For families residing outside of the United States, please call Boston Children's Global Services at +1-617-355-5209.
