Overview and symptoms of Turner syndrome

OVERVIEW

Turner syndrome, a condition that affects only females, results when one of the X chromosomes (sex chromosomes) is missing or partially missing. Turner syndrome can cause a variety of medical and developmental problems, including short height, failure of the ovaries to develop, and heart defects. 

Turner syndrome may be diagnosed before birth (prenatally), during infancy, or in early childhood. Occasionally, in females with mild signs and symptoms of Turner syndrome, the diagnosis is delayed until the teen or young adult years.

Girls and women with Turner syndrome need ongoing medical care from a variety of specialists. Regular checkups and appropriate care can help most girls and women lead healthy, independent lives.

SYMPTOMS

Signs and symptoms of Turner syndrome may vary among girls and women with the disorder. For some girls, the presence of Turner syndrome may not be readily apparent, but in other girls, a number of physical features and poor growth are apparent early. Signs and symptoms can be subtle, developing slowly over time, or significant, such as heart defects.

Before birth

Turner syndrome may be suspected prenatally based on prenatal cell-free DNA screening- a method to screen for certain chromosomal abnormalities in a developing baby using a blood sample from the mother- or prenatal ultrasound. Prenatal ultrasound of a baby with Turner syndrome may show:

• Large fluid collection on the back of the neck or other abnormal fluid collections (edema)
• Heart abnormalities
• Abnormal kidneys
  
  
  

At birth or during infancy

Signs of Turner syndrome at birth or during infancy may include:

• Wide or weblike neck
• Low-set ears
• Broad chest with widely spaced nipples
• High, narrow roof of the mouth (palate)
• Arms that turn outward at  the elbows
• Fingernails and toenails that are narrow and turned upward
• Swelling of the hands and feet, especially at birth
• Slightly smaller than average height at birth
• Slowed growth
• Cardiac defects
• Low hairline at the back of the head
• Receding or small lower jaw
• Short fingers and toes
  
  
  

In childhood, teens, and adulthood

The most common signs in almost all girls, teenagers, and young women with Turner syndrome are short stature and ovarian insufficiency due to ovarian failure that may have occurred by birth or gradually during childhood, the teen years, or young adulthood. Signs and symptoms of these include:

• Slowed growth
• No growth spurts at expected times in childhood
• Adult height significantly less than might be expected for a female member of the family
• Failure to begin sexual changes expected during puberty
• Sexual development that "stalls" during teenage years
• Early end to menstrual cycles not due to pregnancy
• For most women with Turner syndrome, inability to conceive a child without fertility treatment