Hernia, Double Inguinal

Weimer (1949) described a family in which at least 1 male in 4 successive generations had bilateral inguinal hernia. Autosomal dominance with sex influence was suggested. Familial hernia was reported also by Edwards (1974) and by Simpson et al. (1974). Smith and Sparkes (1968) observed 2 brothers with atypical inguinal hernias of similar type and a strong family history of hernia. They reviewed evidence in man and animals supporting genetic causation. Hernia occurs, of course, in the Marfan (154700) and Ehlers-Danlos (130000) syndromes.