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Freeman–Sheldon syndrome

rare congenital disorder

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ1315091 ↗
Source-derived summary

Freeman–Sheldon syndrome (FSS) is a very rare form of multiple congenital contracture (MCC) syndromes (arthrogryposes) and is the most severe form of distal arthrogryposis (DA). It was originally described by Ernest Arthur Freeman and Joseph Harold Sheldon in 1938.

By 2007, only about 100 cases had been reported in medical literature.

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of Freeman–Sheldon syndrome include drooping of the upper eyelids, strabismus, low-set ears, a long philtrum, gradual hearing loss, scoliosis and walking difficulties. Gastroesophageal reflux has been noted during infancy, but usually improves with age. The tongue may be small, and the limited movement of the soft palate may cause nasal speech. Often there is an H- or Y-shaped dimpling of the skin over the chin.

Cause

FSS is caused by genetic changes. Krakowiak et al. (1998) mapped the distal arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (DA2B; MIM #601680) gene, a syndrome very similar in phenotypic expression to classic FSS, to 11p15.5-pter.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Freeman–Sheldon syndrome” is rare congenital disorder. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Freeman, Sheldon and syndrome, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1938, 2007, 1998—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Freeman, Sheldon and syndrome is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “rare congenital disorder” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1315091. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1938, 2007 and 1998.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Freeman–Sheldon syndrome primary sources, Freeman–Sheldon syndrome archive and Freeman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Freeman–Sheldon syndrome” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.