A simple signs-and-symptoms checklist can help primary care physicians identify patients with probable Marfan or Loeys-Dietz syndrome, enabling early referral, researchers said. In two separate studies appearing in the August issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, investigators led by Harry C. Dietz, MD, and Paul Sponseller, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, suggested that their findings could allow patients to receive the treatment and monitoring necessary to prevent the complications of these genetic diseases from becoming life-threatening.
