Thalidomide, mainly used for the treatment of leprosy, is a current teratogen in South America, and it is reasonable to assume that at present this situation is affecting many births in underdeveloped countries. Moreover, the potential re‐marketing of thalidomide for the treatment of a large variety of diseases may extend the problem to the developed world. When the drug is available, the control of its intake during early pregnancy is very difficult since most pregnancies are unintended. The ongoing occurrence of thalidomide embryopathy cases went undetected by the ECLAMC, due to several factors: (1) low populational coverage through this monitoring system; (2) pre‐existence of the teratogen with its effects present in both baseline (expected) and monitored (observed) materials; and (3) lack of a defined phenotype to be monitored. Thus, if thalidomide re‐enters the market throughout the world, due to the wide range of new applications, occurrence of phocomelia alone might not be sufficient to detect its effects. By a case‐reference approach, the ECLAMC registered 34 thalidomide embryopathy cases born in South America after 1965 whose birthplaces correspond to endemic areas for leprosy. Phocomelia was found in five of eleven fully described cases. Thus, phocomelia alone is neither specific nor sufficient to serve as a suitable phenotype to survey the teratogenic effects of thalidomide. Therefore, a thalidomide‐like phenotype, defined as any bilateral upper and/or lower limb reduction defect of the preaxial and/or phocomelia types, should be included in the routine surveillance of birth defects in all programmes. Teratology 54:273–277, 1996. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Cerebello-trigemino-dermal "dysplasia" is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome of craniosynostosis, ataxia, trigeminal anesthesia, scalp alopecia, cerebellar anomaly, midface hypoplasia, corneal opacities, apparently low-set ears, mental retardation, and short stature. It seems to be a sporadic condition but little is known about its cause and pathogenesis in the few cases reported so far. We present three new unrelated patients and magnetic resonance images of the central nervous system, and review the four cases reported previously. We think that this is not such a rare condition, and that it is underdiagnosed.

This is a report on a child with sensorineural deafness, imperforate anus with rectovaginal fistula, hypoplastic thumb, and congenital heart defect. This pattern of congenital anomalies is similar to that described in patients with the Townes-Brocks syndrome, although the present patient has characteristics that have not been reported previously in this syndrome. It is proposed that the clinical spectrum of the Townes-Brocks syndrome must be extended to include congenital heart defect, auricular changes differing from those previously described, and anomalies of other internal organs. The syndrome is an autosomal dominant trait. The present case may represent a de novo mutation.

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