National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, a program of the National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences

Bowen-Conradi syndrome



Other Names:
Bowen Hutterite syndrome (formerly); Bowen-Conradi Hutterite syndrome; BWCNS
Categories:

Bowen-Conradi syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder characterized by growth delays before birth, failure to thrive during infancy, and malformations of the head and facial area. Other physical abnormalities include small head, prominent nose, small chin, mild joint restriction, clinodactyly, camptodactyly, foot deformities, and/or undescended testes (cryptorchidism) in affected males. Some affected infants may also have kidney, brain, and/or other abnormalities. Many infants die within the first few months of life. This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion.[1][2]
Last updated: 4/22/2011

This table lists symptoms that people with this disease may have. For most diseases, symptoms will vary from person to person. People with the same disease may not have all the symptoms listed. This information comes from a database called the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) . The HPO collects information on symptoms that have been described in medical resources. The HPO is updated regularly. Use the HPO ID to access more in-depth information about a symptom.

Showing of 23 |
Medical Terms Other Names
Learn More:
HPO ID
80%-99% of people have these symptoms
Death in infancy
Infantile death
Lethal in infancy
[ more ]
0001522
Feeding difficulties in infancy 0008872
Joint stiffness
Stiff joint
Stiff joints
[ more ]
0001387
Microcephaly
Abnormally small skull
Decreased circumference of cranium
Decreased size of skull
Reduced head circumference
Small head circumference
[ more ]
0000252
Micrognathia
Little lower jaw
Small jaw
Small lower jaw
[ more ]
0000347
Prominent nose
Big nose
Disproportionately large nose
Increased nasal size
Increased size of nose
Large nose
Pronounced nose
[ more ]
0000448
Severe global developmental delay 0011344
Severe postnatal growth retardation
Marked growth retardation
Severe growth delay in children
Severe postnatal growth failure
[ more ]
0008850
Short stature
Decreased body height
Small stature
[ more ]
0004322
Sloping forehead
Inclined forehead
Receding forehead
[ more ]
0000340
30%-79% of people have these symptoms
Camptodactyly of finger
Permanent flexion of the finger
0100490
Clinodactyly of the 5th finger
Permanent curving of the pinkie finger
0004209
Cryptorchidism
Undescended testes
Undescended testis
[ more ]
0000028
Rocker bottom foot
Rocker bottom feet
Rocker-bottom feet
Rockerbottom feet
[ more ]
0001838
Severe intrauterine growth retardation
Severe prenatal growth deficiency
0008846
5%-29% of people have these symptoms
Abnormal lung lobation 0002101
Abnormality of cardiovascular system morphology 0030680
Oral cleft
Cleft of the mouth
0000202
Seizure 0001250
Ventriculomegaly 0002119
Percent of people who have these symptoms is not available through HPO
Abnormal joint morphology
Abnormal shape of joints
Abnormality of the joints
Anomaly of the joints
[ more ]
0001367
Autosomal recessive inheritance 0000007
Small for gestational age
Birth weight less than 10th percentile
Low birth weight
[ more ]
0001518
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Last updated: 7/1/2020

Making a diagnosis for a genetic or rare disease can often be challenging. Healthcare professionals typically look at a person’s medical history, symptoms, physical exam, and laboratory test results in order to make a diagnosis. The following resources provide information relating to diagnosis and testing for this condition. If you have questions about getting a diagnosis, you should contact a healthcare professional.

Testing Resources

  • The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) provides information about the genetic tests for this condition. The intended audience for the GTR is health care providers and researchers. Patients and consumers with specific questions about a genetic test should contact a health care provider or a genetics professional.

If you need medical advice, you can look for doctors or other healthcare professionals who have experience with this disease. You may find these specialists through advocacy organizations, clinical trials, or articles published in medical journals. You may also want to contact a university or tertiary medical center in your area, because these centers tend to see more complex cases and have the latest technology and treatments.

If you can’t find a specialist in your local area, try contacting national or international specialists. They may be able to refer you to someone they know through conferences or research efforts. Some specialists may be willing to consult with you or your local doctors over the phone or by email if you can't travel to them for care.

You can find more tips in our guide, How to Find a Disease Specialist. We also encourage you to explore the rest of this page to find resources that can help you find specialists.

Healthcare Resources


Related diseases are conditions that have similar signs and symptoms. A health care provider may consider these conditions in the table below when making a diagnosis. Please note that the table may not include all the possible conditions related to this disease.

Conditions with similar signs and symptoms from Orphanet
Differential diagnosis includes trisomy 18, COFS syndrome and fetal akinesia deformation sequence. Other conditions with microcephaly and severe growth and developmental delay such as chromosome breakage disorders, DNA damage repair disorders, microcephalic primordial dwarfisms and certain forms of carbohydrate deficient glycoprotein syndromes may also show some overlap.
Visit the Orphanet disease page for more information.

These resources provide more information about this condition or associated symptoms. The in-depth resources contain medical and scientific language that may be hard to understand. You may want to review these resources with a medical professional.

Where to Start

  • Genetics Home Reference (GHR) contains information on Bowen-Conradi syndrome. This website is maintained by the National Library of Medicine.
  • The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has a report for patients and families about this condition. NORD is a patient advocacy organization for individuals with rare diseases and the organizations that serve them.

In-Depth Information

  • The Monarch Initiative brings together data about this condition from humans and other species to help physicians and biomedical researchers. Monarch’s tools are designed to make it easier to compare the signs and symptoms (phenotypes) of different diseases and discover common features. This initiative is a collaboration between several academic institutions across the world and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Visit the website to explore the biology of this condition.
  • Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders. Each entry has a summary of related medical articles. It is meant for health care professionals and researchers. OMIM is maintained by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 
  • Orphanet is a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Access to this database is free of charge.
  • PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Bowen-Conradi syndrome. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.

Questions sent to GARD may be posted here if the information could be helpful to others. We remove all identifying information when posting a question to protect your privacy. If you do not want your question posted, please let us know.


  1. Orphanet. Bowen-Conradi syndrome. 2004; http://www.orpha.net/consor/cgi-bin/OC_Exp.php?Lng=EN&Expert=1270. Accessed 4/21/2011.
  2. Bowen Hutterite Syndrome. National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). http://www.rarediseases.org/search/rdbdetail_abstract.html?disname=Bowen%20Hutterite%20Syndrome. Accessed 4/21/2011.