Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Consensus Conference: Revised Clinical Diagnostic Criteria

At the recent tuberous sclerosis complex consensus conference, the clinical diagnostic criteria for tuberous sclerosis complex were simplified and revised to reflect both new clinical information about tuberous sclerosis complex and an improved understanding of the disorder derived from molecular genetic studies. Based on this new information, some clinical signs once regarded as pathognomonic for tuberous sclerosis complex are now known to be less specific. No single sign is present in all affected patients, and there is no proof that any single clinical or radiographic sign is absolutely specific for tuberous sclerosis complex. Accordingly, the clinical and radiographic features of tuberous sclerosis complex have now been divided into major and minor categories based on the apparent degree of specificity for tuberous sclerosis complex of each feature. A definitive diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex now requires two or more distinct types of lesions, rather than multiple lesions of the same type in the same organ system. Although diagnosis on purely clinical grounds can continue to be difficult in a few patients, there should be little doubt about the diagnosis for those individuals who fulfill these strict criteria. Couples with more than one child with tuberous sclerosis complex, no extended family history, and no clinical features of tuberous sclerosis complex are more likely to have germline mosaicism for tuberous sclerosis than nonexpression of the mutation. Germline mosaicism, while fortunately rare, will not be suspected from either diagnostic criteria or molecular testing until a couple has multiple affected children. Genetic counseling for families with one affected child should include a small (1% to 2%) possibility of recurrence, even for parents who have no evidence of tuberous sclerosis complex after a thorough diagnostic evaluation.