title: Recommendations of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome Association on the diagnosis, management and follow-up of the syndrome.
abstract: Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is the most common (epi)genetic overgrowth-cancer predisposition disorder. Given the absence of consensual recommendations or international guidelines, the Scientific Committee of the Italian BWS Association (www.aibws.org) proposed these recommendations for the diagnosis, molecular testing, clinical management, follow-up and tumor surveillance of patients with BWS. The recommendations are intended to allow a timely and appropriate diagnosis of the disorder, to assist patients and their families, to provide clinicians and caregivers optimal strategies for an adequate and satisfactory care, aiming also at standardizing clinical practice as a national uniform approach. They also highlight the direction of future research studies in this setting. With recent advances in understanding the disease (epi)genetic mechanisms and in describing large cohorts of BWS patients, the natural history of the disease will be dissected. In the era of personalized medicine, the emergence of specific (epi)genotype-phenotype correlations in BWS will likely lead to differentiated follow-up approaches for the molecular subgroups, to the development of novel tools to evaluate the likelihood of cancer development and to the refinement and optimization of current tumor screening strategies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this article, we provide the first comprehensive recommendations on the complex management of patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy. Electronic address: mussa_alessandro@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mussa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Candia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Department of Hematology and Pediatric Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Catania
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Orthopaedic Unit IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Pellegrin
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Luzio
authors.affiliation: Regional Center for CLP, Smile-House, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Regional Center for CLP, Smile-House, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tortora
authors.affiliation: Regional Center for CLP, Smile-House, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Costanza
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Meazzini
authors.affiliation: Regional Center for CLP, Smile-House, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brusati
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università degli Studi di Milano Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milani
authors.affiliation: Center for Rare Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zampino
authors.affiliation: 0-3 Center for the Study of Social Emotional Development of the at Risk Infant, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Montirosso
authors.affiliation: DiSTABiF, Second University of Naples and Institute of Genetics and Biophysics "A. Buzzati-Traverso" - CNR, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riccio
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pediatric Genetics Unit, Pediatrics Clinics, MBBM Foundation, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selicorni
authors.affiliation: GC Department of Pediatrics, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cocchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy. Electronic address: giovannibattista.ferrero@unito.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Ferrero
mesh_terms: D001506:Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000628:therapy; D008260:Macroglossia / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome; Cancer predisposition; Follow-up; Overgrowth; Recommendations