Symptoms of Marfan Syndrome: An Introduction
Marfan syndrome affects different people in different ways. Some people have only mild symptoms, while others are more severely affected. However, in most cases, the symptoms of Marfan syndrome progress as the person ages. The body systems most often affected by Marfan syndrome are the:
- Skeleton
- Eyes
- Heart and blood vessels
- Nervous system
- Skin
- Lungs
Symptoms of Marfan Syndrome: Skeleton
People with Marfan syndrome are typically very tall, slender, and loose jointed. Arms, legs, fingers, and toes may be disproportionately long in relation to the rest of the body because Marfan syndrome affects the long bones of the skeleton.
A person with Marfan syndrome usually has a long, narrow face, and the roof of the mouth may be arched, causing the teeth to be crowded. Other skeletal abnormalities include a sternum (breastbone) that is either protruding or indented, curvature of the spine (
scoliosis), and flat feet.
Symptoms of Marfan Syndrome: Eyes
More than half of all people with symptoms of Marfan syndrome experience dislocation of one or both lenses of the eye. Possible eye symptoms of Marfan syndrome include:
- The lens may be slightly higher or lower than normal
- The lens may be shifted off to one side
- Retinal detachment
- Nearsightedness (myopia)
- Early glaucoma (high pressure within the eye)
- Cataracts (the eye's lens loses its clearness).
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