Gardner's syndrome: a ten year follow up survey of 12 subjects in a family

Purpose: To study the development of Gardner's syndrome by following up 12 subjects in a family for ten years. Methods: 12 subjects with Gardner's syndrome of 4 generations in a family were studied. Six were male and six female. The age of the patients was from 9 to 74 years, with average of 38 years. The examinations consisted of air-barium double contrast radiography of colon, fiber-optic colonoscopy, plain X-ray and body photography. Results: Triology was present in 8 cases (66.7%) and the double signs in 4 cases (33.3%). 4 patients (33.3%) died of malignant degeneration of colonic polyp in 10 years, all occurring in rectum and sigmoid colon, the oldest one was 74 years and the youngest 35 years. Conclusion: The incidence of malignant degeneration of colonic polyp is very high in patients with Gardner's syndrome and may occur in patients older than 30 years, with the peak incidence in the sixth decade. Preventive resection of colonic polyp is still the best treatment