Important changes occur in the eyes, skeleton, heart, aorta, lungs, skin, and other tissues.
The diagnosis of the Marfan syndrome depends on finding the specific changes in these organs, and on the inheritance of the condition in a family. More than 100,000 Americans have the Marfan syndrome. Many more people have a number of the clinical signs of the Marfan syndrome, but not enough to warrant a diagnosis of this condition. These people may have what can be called heritable disorders of connective tissue related to the Marfan syndrome. The purpose of this booklet is to distinguish among the conditions that have been identified thus far that are related to the Marfan syndrome and occur in families.