What is the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and X-linked thrombocytopenia (XLT)?

X-linked recessive inheritance disorders characterized by eczema, microthrombocytopenia, immune deficiency, increased risk of developing lymphoma and autoimmunity, and clinically significant bleeding present from infancy. Wiskott Aldrich syndrome is caused by genetic changes in the WAS gene and is inherited in an X-linked manner. Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, X-linked thrombocytopenia (XLT), and X-linked neutropenia (XLN) are known as ‘WAS-related disorders’ because these diseases are all caused by genetic changes in the WAS gene, and have overlapping symptoms ranging from severe to mild (Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is the most severe).