A Multicenter Italian Study on Prader-Willi Syndrome

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a relatively common disorder with an incidence estimated at about 1:10,000 (Holm, 1981) which represents the most common dysmorphic/genetic form of human obesity. The primary features of this condition include infantile hypotonia, failure to thrive, hypogonadism and developmental delay followed by development of obesity, Short stature, mental retardation and behavior problems. Mild dysmorphism is part of the Syndrome. About 59% of patients with PWS have an interstitial of the proximal long arm of chromosome 15 (Ledbetter et al, 1987).