Symptoms of Turner's syndrome

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The most common symptoms are:

Short stature. Children with Turner syndrome often are of normal height for the first 3 years but then have a lower than average growth rate. At puberty they do not have the normal growth spurt .
Non-functioning ovaries. Normally a girl's ovaries begin to produce sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone at puberty. This does not happen in the majority of girls with TS so they do not start their periods or develop breasts without hormone treatment at the age of puberty. Even though many women with TS have non-functioning ovaries and are infertile, their vagina and womb are totally normal.

Other symptoms may include:

An especially wide neck (webbed neck) and a low or indistinct hairline;
A broad chest and widely spaced nipples;
Arms that turn out slightly at the elbow; Â· A heart murmur, sometimes associated with narrowing of the aorta (blood vessel in the heart);
Many small dark birthmarks;
Minor symptoms such as small spoon shaped nails and short fourth finger or toe;
A tendency to develop high blood pressure (so this should be checked regularly);
In early childhood most girls with TS will have a number of attacks of middle ear infection and 'glue ear'. This can lead to hearing loss in adults in some cases;.
Minor eye problems that are corrected by glasses and squints are fairly common;
Scoliosis (deformity of the spine) occurs in 10% of adolescent girls with TS;
The thyroid gland becomes under-active in about 10% of women with TS. Regular blood tests are necessary to detect it early and if necessary treated with thyroxine tablets;
Older or over-weight women with TS are slightly more at risk of developing diabetes;
Osteoporosis can develop because of a lack of oestrogen, but this can largely be prevented by taking HRT.

Girls with Turner Syndrome are usually of normal intelligence with good verbal skills and reading skills. Some girls however have problems with maths, memory skills and fine-finger movements.