Leprechaunism: report of two cases and review.

Two new cases of leprechaunism are reported, one of which from consanguinous parents. Both cases show the clinical picture characteristic of this syndrome: severe pre- and postnatal growth failure, psychic backwardness, lack of adipose tissue, cutis laxa; elf-like face, large ears, globular eyes, hypertelorism, micrognathia and various degrees of external genitalia hypertrophy. Endocrinologically, one of the patients shows the syndrome of low T3. The role of the endocrine alterations in the etiology of the syndrome is discussed.