[100 years Peutz-Jeghers syndrome]

Abstract

In 2021 it was 100 years since drPeutz published his case report titled: 'a very remarkable case of familial polyposis of mucous membranes of intestinal tract and nasopharynx accompanied by peculiar pigmentations of skin and mucous membrane'. This is the first description of the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, which is named after him. Like Peutz already suggested a century ago, we know now that this is a genetic disorder (autosomal dominant) caused by mutations in the STK11 gene. The clinical symptoms are typical pigmentations of the mucous membranes and hamartomatous polyps which already at a young age can result in polyp related complications like intussusception. Thereby patients with the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome have a high risk of developing an intestinal or extra-intestinal malignancy. For this reason there are strict surveillance guidelines for these patients. Even after a hundred years there is still a high mortality risk for patients with this syndrome.