Gestational age-related reference values for amniotic fluid organic acids.

Background: Normative data for amniotic fluid (AF) levels of organic acids at different gestational ages are lacking. They can provide a useful framework to investigate the accuracy of prenatal diagnosis for organic acidemias.

Methods: We report on the concentration of 21 organic acids in AF obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry between the 12th and 34th weeks of gestation from 92 pregnancies that were not at risk for organic acidurias.

Array-based comparative genomic hybridization identifies a high frequency of copy number variations in patients with syndromic overgrowth.

Overgrowth syndromes are a heterogeneous group of conditions including endocrine hormone disorders, several genetic syndromes and other disorders with unknown etiopathogenesis. Among genetic causes, chromosomal deletions and duplications such as dup(4)(p16.3), dup(15)(q26qter), del(9)(q22.

Familial interstitial Xq27.3q28 duplication encompassing the FMR1 gene but not the MECP2 gene causes a new syndromic mental retardation condition.

X-linked mental retardation is a common disorder that accounts for 5-10% of cases of mental retardation in males. Fragile X syndrome is the most common form resulting from a loss of expression of the FMR1 gene. On the other hand, partial duplication of the long arm of the X chromosome is uncommon.

Maternal uniparental heterodisomy of chromosome 17 in a patient with nephropathic cystinosis.

We report maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 17 (mat UPD17) in a 2.5-year-old girl presenting infantile cystinosis. This patient was homozygous for the 57 kb deletion encompassing the CTNS gene, frequently found in patients from the European origin.

Prenatal diagnosis and normal outcome of a 46,XX/46,XY chimera: a case report.

The phenotypic spectrum of 46,XX/46,XY chimeric patients is variable. It ranges from normal male or female genitalia to different degrees of ambiguous genitalia. Chimerism results from the amalgamation of two different zygotes in a single embryo, whereas mosaicism results from a mitotic error in a single zygote.

Cytogenetic and histological features of a human embryo with homogeneous chromosome 8 trisomy.

Background: Homogeneous and complete trisomy 8 is extremely rare. With one recent neonatal exception, all reported cases have been mosaic, due to mitotic non-disjunction during early zygotic development. We report a case of chromosome 8 trisomy in a human embryo examined at Carnegie stage 11 (25 days post-fertilization).

Molecular characterisation of a prenatally diagnosed 5q15q21.3 deletion and review of the literature.

Background: Ultrasound examination performed on a 32-year old woman at 30 weeks' gestation showed the presence of fetal malformations. Amniocentesis was performed.

Methods And Results: Cytogenetic analysis of cultured amniocytes revealed an interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5.

Phenotypic spectrum of CHARGE syndrome in fetuses with CHD7 truncating mutations correlates with expression during human development.

Background: The acronym CHARGE refers to a non-random cluster of malformations including coloboma, heart malformation, choanal atresia, retardation of growth and/or development, genital anomalies, and ear anomalies. This set of multiple congenital anomalies is frequent, despite rare patients with normal intelligence, and prognosis remains poor. Recently, CHD7 gene mutations have been identified in CHARGE patients; however, the function of CHD7 during development remains unknown.

Functional disomy of the Xq28 chromosome region.

We report on two patients, a boy and a girl, with an additional Xq28 chromosome segment translocated onto the long arm of an autosome. The karyotypes were 46,XY,der(10)t(X;10)(q28;qter) and 46,XX,der(4)t(X;4)(q28;q34), respectively. In both cases, the de novo cryptic unbalanced X-autosome translocation resulted in a Xq28 chromosome functional disomy.

Prenatal diagnosis and characterization of an analphoid marker chromosome 16.

We report on a fetus with intrauterine growth retardation and multiple malformations diagnosed on ultrasound at 32 weeks. Examination of amniotic fluid cells in culture showed a 47,XY, i(16)(q10), +mar karyotype. Chromosome analysis of both parents was normal.

Molecular screening of the ZFHX1B gene in prenatally diagnosed isolated agenesis of the corpus callosum.

Objective: Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is the most common malformation of the central nervous system and may be associated with mental retardation. ACC is found in 40% of the cases of Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS), a polytopic embryonic defect including a distinctive facial gestalt, severe mental retardation, epilepsy and postnatal microcephaly as constant features. Other manifestations involve Hirschsprung disease, cardiac defects, renal abnormalities and hypospadias.

Reproductive genetic counselling in non-mosaic 47,XXY patients: implications for preimplantation or prenatal diagnosis: Case report and review.

With an incidence of approximately 1 in 500 male newborns, the 47,XXY genotype is one the most common sex chromosome anomalies. It is also the most frequent genetic cause of human infertility. Some non-mosaic 47,XXY patients have sperm production which allows infertility treatment to be offered by ICSI.

Maternal uniparental heterodisomy of chromosome 14: chromosomal mechanism and clinical follow up.

To our knowledge, 22 cases of chromosome 14 maternal uniparental disomy (UPD(14)mat) have been reported so far. The majority of cases were ascertained because of an abnormal phenotype associated with a Robertsonian translocation involving chromosome 14. We report here on a child with UPD(14)mat detected prenatally and resulting from trisomy rescue in a maternal meiosis I non-disjunction trisomic zygote.

Subtle familial unbalanced translocation t(8;11)(p23.2;p15.5) in two fetuses with Beckwith-Wiedemann features.

We describe a subtle translocation t(8;11)(p23.2;p15.5) ascertained after two induced abortions in the same sibship because of the discovery of fetal hydrops on ultrasound examination.

Prenatal diagnosis of a satellited non-acrocentric chromosome derived from a maternal translocation (10;13)(p13;p12) and review of literature.

We identified a familial balanced translocation involving chromosomes 10 and 13 through the finding of a satellited 10p chromosome in a fetus. The phenotype of two unbalanced products of the translocation resulting in pure monosomy 10p13 and trisomy 10p13 is described. This familial case and two of our unreported cases are discussed in the light of other prenatal observations with satellited non-acrocentric chromosomes reported in the literature.

Prenatal detection of a 1p36 deletion in a fetus with multiple malformations and a review of the literature.

The prenatal diagnosis of a 1p36 deletion is reported. The pregnancy was ascertained at 24 weeks of gestation because of the discovery of multiple malformations at ultrasound including hypotelorism, moderate cerebral ventricular dilatation and Ebstein anomaly with secondary cardiac failure. Following cytogenetic studies and counselling, the pregnancy was terminated and a fetal autopsy performed.

Prenatal diagnosis of an 8p23.1 deletion in a fetus with a diaphragmatic hernia and review of the literature.

The prenatal diagnosis of an 8p23.1 deletion is reported. The diagnosis was ascertained at 22 weeks of gestation because of the discovery of a diaphragmatic hernia at ultrasound.

Molecular cytogenetic analysis of patients with holoprosencephaly and structural rearrangements of 7q.

The holoprosencephaly (HPE) sequence is a malformation complex with abnormal midline cleavage of the embryonic forebrain. HPE is genetically heterogeneous with at least 6 different chromosome regions containing genes involved in the expression of the phenotype. HPE3, recently identified as the human Sonic hedgehog gene, is localized to 7q36.

First-trimester translucency: aneuploidy, sonographic findings, and maternal age.

The positive predictive value of 1st-trimester nuchal translucency for the diagnosis of fetal aneuploidy is reported to range from 19 to 72% in retrospective series and from 2.8 to 4.8% in prospective studies.

Serum hCG assay: a method for detection of contamination of fetal blood samples.

Serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) can be assayed in specimens obtained by percutaneous fetal blood sampling to check for the absence of maternal blood or amniotic fluid contamination. In order to assess the accuracy of this approach, we measured serum hCG in 44 pure fetal blood samples obtained by intracardiac puncture. The mean fetal serum hCG concentration was 52 IU/l, and the ratio of maternal to fetal serum hCG concentration never exceeded 1.

Holoprosencephaly and sacral agenesis in a fetus with a terminal deletion 7q36-->7qter.

We describe here a fetus with holoprosencephaly and signs of caudal deficiency sequence. Chromosome examination showed a de novo balanced reciprocal translocation (7;22) (q36;q11) with loss of the derivative chromosome 22 in 50% of the cells examined. The present report and available published data indicate that the terminal region of the long arm of chromosome 7 contains genes implicated in the development of the central nervous system and the caudal region.