Syringomas in Down Syndrome

Sir.—Syringomas are small, skin-colored or slightly yellow, firm papules that frequently appear in crops and are usually located in the periorbital area (Figure). They may also appear on the side of the neck, cheeks, thorax, abdomen, axilla, and pubic area. An association between Down syndrome (DS) and syringomas was first reported by Butterworth et al1in 1964. They studied a residential population whose ages ranged from 10 to 52 years; the majority of the patients were adults. The incidence of syringomas in the population with DS was 18.5%, with 26% of the women and 13% of the men having syringomas. The comparison group, 1001 mentally retarded individuals without DS, had a 0.6% incidence of syringomas. Another study in 1976,2also of institutionalized residents with DS, reported an incidence of syringomas in 26.6% of the male and 58.1% of the female subjects. There are no reports concern Syringomas