ORPHA:572773
Microcephaly-short stature-limb abnormalities syndrome
Also known as: MISSLA
Publications
1,054
Trials
0
Interventional, condition-specific
Researchers
169
Distinct authors in sample
Gene link
DONSON
Strong
Readiness
3/6
Stages with a signal
Clinical definition (Orphanet)
A rare genetic multiple anomalies syndrome characterized by severe microcephaly, intrauterine growth retardation, short stature and variable limb anomalies such as radial ray defects, short limbs, absent/hypoplastic patellae, syndactyly, brachydactyly and hypoplastic carpal or metacarpal bones. Craniofacial dysmorphism is characterized by long and broad nose, microstomia and micrognathia. is mild when present. Cases with extremely severe with very short limbs and poor lung development are perinatally lethal.
How rare: <1 / 1 000 000 — fewer than one in a million. In a city the size of Kolkata, that might mean on the order of fifteen people.
Cross-references
Joined from Mondo / Orphanet. MeSH labels may enter searches; UMLS / OMIM / NCIT are stored for reference.
- MONDO:0060533
- OMIM:617604
- UMLS:C4539873
Additional Mondo synonyms (1)
microcephaly, short stature, and limb abnormalities
Research stages
Trial readiness signals
Where this condition sits on an open-data research pipeline — not how close a treatment is, and not medical advice. Empty stages often mean “not in these databases under this Mondo ID,” not “impossible.”
3/6 stages with a signal
No matched interventional trial; the gene is known and literature exists — preclinical or natural-history work may still be the practical next step.
- Gene identifiedPresent
Strong — DONSON
- LiteraturePresent
1,054 matched papers (666 in last 10 years) Source
- Phenotype characterisedPresent
20 HPO annotations (e.g. Delayed skeletal maturation; Short stature; Global developmental delay) Source
- Animal modelNot found
No Alliance genotype “model of” associations via Monarch for these Mondo IDs
- Orphan designationNot found
No FDA or EMA orphan-drug designation matched this disease via UMLS or preferred name Source
- Interventional trialNot found
No matched interventional trial under our ClinicalTrials.gov rules
Biology
Genes and phenotypes
Gene–disease validity from GenCC, plus phenotypes and animal models joined from Monarch Initiative via Mondo ID — not a clinical diagnosis aid.
Do we know what causes it?
Yes — we know a specific gene responsible (DONSON).
GenCC classification: Strong.
Phenotypes (Monarch / HPO)
20
Associated phenotypes · MONDO:0060533
- Delayed skeletal maturation
- Short stature
- Global developmental delay
- Patellar hypoplasia
- Patellar aplasia
Showing 5 of 20 — open Monarch for the full list.
Animal models (Monarch / Alliance)
None returned for this Mondo ID. Empty here is not proof that no model organism work exists under another name or gene.
Monarch fetch 2026-07-29
Therapies
Designations, candidates, and chemicals
FDA OOPD and EMA orphan designations, Open Targets clinical candidates, and CTD chemical associations via MyDisease.info. These never change the interventional-trial headline.
Orphan designation (FDA · EMA)
No designation matched this disease via UMLS or preferred name on the FDA OOPD mirror or EMA orphan register. Absence here is not proof that none exists under another wording.
Open Targets candidates
No drugs or clinical candidates returned for this Mondo ID on Open Targets.
CTD chemicals (MyDisease.info)
No CTD chemical associations returned for this Mondo ID.
Literature
Is anyone studying this?
1,054
1,054 papers have been published on this condition. That is a real research literature — still far smaller than common diseases (breast cancer: over 700,000 papers). Median papers in the last 10 years for a rare disease in this dataset (publications denominator n=3967) is 59.
1,054 papers since the earliest indexed year in this search — median last-10-year count for a rare disease in this dataset is 59 (publications denominator n=3967).
666 in the last 10 years · low confidence
Phrase hits: 18 · MeSH hits: 0
Who's working on it?
169
Distinct author names in 18 sampled papers — named people below.
Who's working on it?
No interventional trial matched this name; these authors publish on it in the sampled literature — a practical starting point for contact.
- 01Schulz S3 papers · 2021
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC - 02Bicknell LS2 papers · 2023
Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand louise.bicknell@otago.ac.nz.
Papers in Europe PMC - 03Gezdirici A2 papers · 2020
Department of Medical Genetics, Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Papers in Europe PMC - 04Jackson AP2 papers · 2023
MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
Papers in Europe PMC - 05Mensah MA2 papers · 2019
Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics, Berlin, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC - 06Mundlos S2 papers · 2023
Institut für medizinische Genetik und Humangenetik, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC - 07Sutton VR2 papers · 2023
Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine & Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.
Papers in Europe PMC - 08Abdelrahman HA1 paper · 2019
Department of Pathology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE.
Papers in Europe PMC - 09Abdulwahab F1 paper · 2023
Department of Translational Genomics, Center for Genomic Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Papers in Europe PMC - 10Abe P1 paper · 2021
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC
Clinical research
Is a treatment being tested?
0
interventional trials for this specific condition
No interventional trial testing a treatment matched this specific condition name on ClinicalTrials.gov (observational studies and pan-disease registries are listed separately when present).
Data as of 11 September 2026 · last trial check 11 September 2026
No matched interventional trials. This is true for 77.2% of diseases in the trials denominator (5501 of 7126). Here are the researchers publishing on it.
low confidence · 38.6th percentile (trials denominator)
Recruiting interventional trials
From the matched ClinicalTrials.gov set
No interventional trial testing a treatment was found for this specific condition name on ClinicalTrials.gov.
See who's working on it — people publishing on this disease are often the practical next contact when no trial is listed.
Other registries (secondary)
Broader net from EU CTIS, ISRCTN, and ICTRP when available — deduped against ClinicalTrials.gov IDs already counted above. Dual-model LLM relevance gates what we keep. These rows are not added to the interventional headline.
raw 12 · after dedupe 11 · already on CT.gov 0 · kept 0 · parent 0 · uncertain 11 · dropped 0 · fetched 2026-07-30
Source notes: ictrp: Error: ICTRP public search unavailable (WHO portal is SPA-only; SOAP needs partnership). Tried: https://apps.who.int/tri
No secondary-registry studies passed dual-model relevance for this condition name (after dedupe).
Uncertain / not reviewed (11)
- ctis·2025-523832-38-00·Authorised·Multicenter Interventional Study Somatrogon Impact on Outcomes in Naive Small for Gestational Age or Idiopathic Short Stature paediatric patients compared with daily growth hormone
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2025-523509-13-00·Authorised, ongoing·Phase 2, Open-Label, Long-Term, Extension (OLE) Study of Infigratinib, an FGFR 1-3-Selective Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor, in Children with Hypochondroplasia: ACCEL OLE
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2025-523079-44-00·Authorised, ongoing·HighLiGHts - A Pivotal, Parallel-Arm, Phase 3, Open-Label, Active-controlled, Global, Multicenter, Randomized Basket Trial Investigating the Efficacy and Safety of Once-weekly Lonapegsomatropin Compared to Daily Somatropin in Prepubertal Children and Adolescents with Growth Failure or Short Stature due to Growth Hormone Sufficient Disorders – Turner Syndrome, SHOX Deficiency, Small for Gestational Age, and Idiopathic Short Stature
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2024-516822-67-00·Authorised, ongoing·A Phase 2/3, Multicenter, Open-Label Phase Followed by a Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Infigratinib in Children with Hypochondroplasia: ACCEL 2/3
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2024-520137-74-00·Authorised, ongoing·A Phase 2, Randomized, Controlled, Multicenter Study of Vosoritide in Children With Idiopathic Short Stature
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2024-515861-33-00·Authorised, recruiting·A Phase 2, Randomized, Multicenter, Study of Vosoritide in Children with Noonan Syndrome with Inadequate Growth During or After Human Growth Hormone Treatment
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2023-506927-27-00·Expired·A study comparing the effect and safety of once weekly dosing of somapacitan with daily Norditropin® as well as evaluating long-term safety of somapacitan in a basket study design in children with short stature either born small for gestational age or with Turner syndrome, Noonan syndrome, or idiopathic short stature
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2023-506830-66-00·Expired·A dose-finding trial evaluating the effect and safety of once-weekly treatment of somapacitan compared to daily Norditropin® in children with short stature born small for gestational age with no catch-up growth by 2 years of age or older
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2023-508864-31-00·Expired·A Phase 3, Open-Label Long-Term Extension Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of BMN 111 in Children with Achondroplasia
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2022-500306-17-00·Expired·A multi-center, randomized, active controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of OTL-203 in subjects with mucopolysaccharidosis type I, Hurler syndrome (MPS-IH) compared to standard of care with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT)
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
- ctis·2022-501055-87-01·Expired·A study evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-weekly dosing of somapacitan in a basket study design in paediatric participants with short stature either born small of gestational age or with Turner syndrome, Noonan syndrome or idiopathic short stature
skipped — LLM skipped (--skip-llm)
Where to find support
Condition-specific patient organisations, when Orphanet lists them, are on the disease’s Orphanet page. We also link umbrella groups that support undiagnosed and ultra-rare families.
Orphanet entry for Microcephaly-short stature-limb abnormalities syndrome — check Associations / patient organisations on that page.
India — NPRD
Last verified 2026-07-26This ORPHAcode is not on our curated NPRD list (direct or Mondo-parent match). That does not decide clinical eligibility; families in India should ask a notified Centre of Excellence about current coverage.
Hand-curated for this project. ORPHAcode mappings are best-effort and may be incomplete or imprecise for umbrella categories. Parent (Mondo) matches mean the policy lists a broader category — confirm eligibility with a Centre of Excellence. Financial entitlements summarised from public policy statements and may change. This is not official government guidance.
How we counted this
Europe PMC query (preferred label + any corrected label + Orphanet and Mondo exact synonyms, stoplisted; unioned with resolved MeSH labels when available). UMLS / OMIM / NCIT cross-references are stored on the overview but are not added to the query string.
("Microcephaly-short stature-limb abnormalities syndrome" OR "MISSLA" OR "microcephaly, short stature, and limb abnormalities") OR ("DONSON" OR "DONSON syndrome" OR "DONSON-related")ClinicalTrials.gov query (quoted phrases + MeSH via query.cond, plus recall-expansion terms when used):
"Microcephaly-short stature-limb abnormalities syndrome" OR "MISSLA" OR "microcephaly, short stature, and limb abnormalities"
Study-type breakdown: 0 interventional · 0 observational · 0 expanded access. Only interventional studies enter the trial headline.
Query health: ok — strategies attempted: phrase; with hits: phrase
Run this search on ClinicalTrials.gov
Confidence reasoning
- Preferred label is multi-word and distinctive
- No synonyms dropped by stoplist
- No label/synonym collisions with other diseases in this corpus
- Publication count (1054) is implausibly high for prevalence class "<1 / 1 000 000" — treat as possible over-matching, not a measure of research intensity
Ingested 2026-07-27T18:33:43.629Z