Facial features in Alagille syndrome: specific or cholestasis facies?

Alagille syndrome is a complex multisystem disorder characterized by bile duct paucity, cholestasis, cardiac defects, vertebral anomalies, ophthalmologic changes, and facial dysmorphism. Although the facial features are highly conserved in affected individuals both within and between families, the possibility has been raised that cholestasis is the causative factor for the facies. In this study, the diagnostic specificity of the facies in Alagille syndrome has been evaluated by asking clinical dysmorphologists to examine a photographic panel of 18 pediatric and adult individuals with Alagille syndrome and other forms of congenital intrahepatic cholestasis.