[Schimmelpenning-Feuerstein-Mims syndrome and its neurologic manifestations. 6 personal cases and review of the literature].

The Schimmelpenning-Feuerstein-Mims-syndrome includes deformities and dysplasias of the skin, eyes, brain, skeleton, and heart. It may result from a malformation of the ectodermal and mesodermal blastoderm in the third week of gestation. We here report on 6 patients who presented between 1977 and 1993 in comparison with those cases in the literature. All children presented neurologic symptoms. The major symptom was a linear epidermal nevus. In addition we found mental retardation, convulsions, asymmetries of the cranial structures or dilated cerebral ventricles ipsilateral to the nevus. One child had a defect of the skull and scalp, a symptom not previously mentioned in the literature. Our patients exhibited a wide phenotypice spectrum ranging from mild to severe forms. Severe neurological symptoms were also found in patients despite minimal dermal involvement.