Freeman-Sheldon syndrome (FSS), or DA2A, is phenotypically similar to DA1. In addition to contractures of the hands and feet, FSS is characterized by oropharyngeal abnormalities, scoliosis, and a distinctive face that includes a very small oral orifice (often only a few millimeters in diameter at birth), puckered lips, and an H-shaped dimple of the chin; hence, FSS has been called 'whistling face syndrome.' The limb phenotypes of DA1 and FSS may be so similar that they can only be distinguished by the differences in facial morphology (summary by Bamshad et al., 2009). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of distal arthrogryposis, see DA1 (108120).

Whistling face syndrome is characterized by an atypical facial appearance with anomalies of the hands and feet. Most cases show autosomal dominant inheritance: see distal arthrogryposis 2A (DA2A; 193700). There are rare reports of presumably autosomal recessive inheritance (summary by Altunhan et al., 2010).

An extremely rare type of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita with the combination of multiple joint contractures with movement limitation and microstomia with a whistling appearance of the mouth that may cause feeding, swallowing and speech difficulties, a distinctive expressionless facies, severe developmental delay, central and autonomous nervous system dysfunction, occasionally Pierre-Robin sequence and lethality generally occurring during the first months of life.