PHACE syndrome: Year of the Zebra

What do the words NASA, LASER, and SCUBA have in common? These ubiquitous terms are all abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words: acronyms. Similarly, PHACE Syndrome is actually an acronym for some of the varied presentations of the disease: Posterior fossa (brain) abnormalities, Hemangioma (a vascular birthmark), Arterial cerebrovascular anomalies, Cardiac and aortic defects, and Eye anomalies. The presentation of this disease is varied, with different symptom combinations from person to person. PHACE Syndrome affects children, with a predilection for females. Today’s Zebra is so rare that its incidence and prevalence are not known. Both diagnosis and treatment are geared towards the specific symptoms experienced by patients. To get a clearer picture of PHACE Syndrome, watch the dedicated Osmosis video.