Symposium on the musculoskeletal aspects of Marfan syndrome: meeting report and state of the science.

The National Marfan Foundation sponsored a symposium in August 2005 to review recent progress in the area of Marfan-related musculoskeletal research. Orthopaedic surgeons, molecular geneticists, medical geneticists, and pain specialists met to review a variety of topics. This report reviews and summarizes the proceedings of the symposium, with emphasis on future directions for study that were identified in the course of the meeting. Areas covered include clinical detection, diagnosis, growth, spine deformity, molecular mechanisms, dural ectasia, protrusio acetabuli, and pain in Marfan syndrome.