ABSTRACT
The clinical entity now known as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1, OMIM# 131100) was identified as a distinct genetic syndrome in 1954 by P. Werner when he reported a family in which the father and four of nine siblings were affected by adenomas of the parathyroids, anterior pituitary, and the pancreatic islets.1 MEN 1 is now recognized as the most common multiglandular syndrome. Although the majority of known families are of Caucasian origin, in which the estimated prevalence is 0.02-0.2/1000, MEN 1 occurs in families from other ethnic backgrounds.
