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Silver-Russell (or Russell-Silver) syndrome (SRS) is an intrauterine growth restriction disorder that results in children with short stature but normal head size. Other features include asymmetry, decreased subcutaneous fat, and markedly triangular facial shape. Endocrinologists have attempted to treat short stature with growth hormones in these children, without much success. SRS usually occurs sporadically but occasionally runs in families. Features of SRS have been recognized in patients with two maternal copies of chromosome 7, and 60% of SRS cases are associated with recognizable methylation defects in imprinted genes. (Imprinted genes do not follow the usual inheritance model, in which both parental alleles are expressed equally; inst…