We have performed linkage analysis in a small family with autosomal dominant inheritance of multiple café-au-lait spots (CLS) in order to clarify its relationship to classical von Recklinghausen disease (NF 1). We found that an affected woman had transmitted a different haplotype for markers flanking the NF1 gene to both of her affected daughters. These results exclude an allelic mutation of the NF 1 gene on chromosome 17 as the cause for inherited café-au-lait spots in this family.