THE Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome was first described in 1866 by Laurence and Moon, who observed polydactylism, obesity and poor eyesight in a family of 8 children. In 1922 Biedl noted the familial tendency of this syndrome, reporting it in several members of the same family. Solis-Cohen and Weiss1 proposed the term "Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome" in 1924 when they summarized the reported cases. Since Bardet2 added polydactylism as one of the criteria for diagnosis, some authors prefer the term Laurence-Moon-Bardet syndrome. Reilly and Lisser,3 in 1932, reviewed 77 cases. In their study the syndrome was complete in 25 cases, questionably complete in 10 and partially complete in 26; 16 cases were doubtful.
The characteristic symptoms of the Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome are obesity, retinal degeneration, genital hypoplasia, polydactylism and mental retardation. Frequently associated are nystagmus, strabismus, deafness and syndactylism. Obesity is a prominent feature in each case reported and is of the hypopituitary type. Retinitis