Penetrance (PEN-uh-trunss) is the proportion of people carrying a particular gene variant who actually show the associated trait or disease. When everyone with the variant shows the trait, penetrance is complete; when only some do, it is called reduced or incomplete penetrance. Reduced penetrance is thought to result from a mix of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, and it helps explain why a dominant CMT variant can affect family members to very different degrees.
A Name That Does Too Much Work
Jean-Martin Charcot's name appears throughout medicine, but nowhere does it create more confusion than in the foot. Learn why the CMT foot and Charcot neuroarthropathy, also known as Charcot foot, share a name yet differ in how they develop, appear, and are managed.
