Joint Hypermobility Syndrome: 2 Cases from the Capital of the Cherokee Nation and Review of Literature

Abstract

Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) includes a spectrum of disorders that can be difficult to differentiate. Often overlapping or nonspecific symptoms can confound the diagnosis. The prevalence of JHS is much higher than the hypermobility variant of EDS (hEDS), although the latter is being diagnosed more especially with Brighton criteria that incorporate the Beighton score [1]. While other connective tissue disorders resulting in joint hypermobility may have specific genetic markers, the hEDS so far does not. This often requires clinicians to have a high index of suspicion for hEDS, or it may go undiagnosed, therefore leaving particularly young patients with a chronic debilitating disease without answers for their symptoms. Here we present two cases of JHS from the capital of the Cherokee Nation diagnosed relatively late compared to the average age at diagnosis.