Trichopoliodystrophy is the technical name for Menkes syndrome — a rare inherited disorder of copper metabolism. A faulty gene impairs the body’s ability to absorb and distribute copper, which is an essential cofactor for enzymes involved in connective tissue, brain development, and pigmentation. Affected infants — almost always boys, since the gene is X-linked — develop the characteristic sparse, twisted, steel-wool hair (the tricho- root refers to hair), along with severe developmental delay, weak muscle tone, and seizures. Without treatment it is usually fatal in early childhood. Early copper injections can help some children if started in the first weeks of life, which is why rapid diagnosis matters.