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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff
While the severity of symptoms can vary widely, the most common ones are stretchy, fragile skin and extra-flexible joints.
EDS is divided into several types, based on a specific set of symptoms. The most common types are:
Classical type (formerly types I and II) EDS
This type affects about 1 in 10,000 to 20,000 people. Signs and symptoms include:
- Loose joints
- Highly elastic, velvety skin
- Fragile skin that bruises or tears easily
- Redundant skin folds, such as on the eyelids
- Slow and poor wound healing leading to wide scarring
- Noncancerous fibrous growths on pressure areas, such as elbows and knees; fatty growths on the shins and forearms
- Muscle fatigue and pain
- Heart valve problems (mitral valve prolapse and aortic root dilation)
Hypermobility type (formerly type III) EDS
This type affects approximately 1 in 10,000 to 15,000 people. Signs and symptoms include:
- Loose, unstable joints with many dislocations
- Easy bruising
- Muscle fatigue and pain
- Chronic degenerative joint disease
- Advanced premature osteoarthritis with chronic pain
- Heart valve problems (mitral valve prolapse and aortic root dilation)
Vascular type (formerly type IV) EDS
This type of EDS is rare, but it's one of the most serious. It affects an estimated 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 people. Signs and symptoms include:
- Fragile blood vessels and organs that are prone to tearing (rupture)
- Thin, translucent skin that bruises easily
- Characteristic facial appearance, including protruding eyes, thin nose and lips, sunken cheeks and small chin
- Collapsed lung (pneumothorax)
- Heart valve problems (mitral valve prolapse and others)
Other types of EDS
The other types of EDS are extremely rare. Some have only been described in a few families. In addition, the relationship of some of these types to the syndrome as a whole isn't well defined.
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- Whitelaw SE. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, classical type: Case management. Dermatology Nursing. 2004;16:433.
- Sheon RP. Clinical manifestations and treatment of the hypermobility syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 27, 2010.
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- Volkov N, et al. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: Insights on obstetric aspects. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey. 2006;62:51.
- Voermans NC, et al. Neuromuscular involvement in various types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Annals of Neurology. 2009;65:687.
- Krakow D. Heritable diseases of connective tissue. In: Firestein GS, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/188281291-3/965853179/1807/728.html. Accessed March 10, 2010
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