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Cerebral palsy of the genetic type has a higher incidence in more inbred populations. Consanguineous families with more than one child affected by symmetrical spastic cerebral palsy have been clinically characterized with the goal of finding recessive genes that bring on the condition. Eight families were studied and a proportion of autosomal recessive symmetrical spastic cerebral palsy mapped to chromosome 2q24-25.

Neuroacanthocytosis is an uncommon neurodegenerative disorder associated with acanthocytosis in the absence of any lipid abnormality. Mutations in at least two genes are responsible for neuroacanthocytosis- the XK gene (in [...]

Over a ten year period of running a joint ophthalmological/genetic clinic, 387 index patients were advised, and a further 260 individuals (relatives of the above) were examined and counselled. Determination of the precise diagnoses and modes of inheritance in the index patients necessitated retinal function tests in 267 (69%) and examination of 84 of their parents and 23 sisters and daughters. Finally, 41% of index patients and 39% of their relatives were given high risks for transmitting an autosomal dominant or X-linked disorder to their children. It is noteworthy that 16% of these high-risk index patients and 66% of these high-risk relatives had no visual symptoms; ophthalmological expertise was-required to assess the significance of their minor signs. It was concluded that an active Register is required for contacting relatives outside the nuclear family, and for future recall of children currently too young for carrier tests or genetic counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical observations were made on a series of 156 boys with severe mental retardation, before cytogenetic results were known. The clinical features that helped to distinguish the 14 boys with the fragile X chromosome from those without were: head circumference over the 50th centile, postpubertal testicular volume over the 50th centile, and an IQ between 35 and 70. If the above clinical features were all present, then the chance of finding the fragile X chromosome was 1 in 3.6, whereas the chance of finding this abnormality in any boy with severe idiopathic mental retardation, regardless of his clinical features, was 1 in 9. Two boys with fragile X syndrome did not, however, possess any of the above clinical features. Moreover, some of the other retarded boys had clinical features of the syndrome, or an X linked pedigree, but lacked the chromosome abnormality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A genetic study of children attending ESN(M) schools in Coventry has shown a recurrence risk of idiopathic mental retardation in sibs lying between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5. There was also a prevalence of mental retardation in other relatives that was greater than the population prevalence, and was less for second degree relatives than for first degree, and less still for third degree relatives. Recurrence in sibs was greater if more than one first degree relative was affected. There was no suggestion of a contribution by X linked genes, once the fragile X syndrome had been excluded. The presence of perinatal and other environmental factors in the index children did not alter the recurrence risk for sibs except for very low birth weight. There was a low recurrence rate of mental retardation in Asian families, suggesting that they had a different distribution of intelligence from non-Asian families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We have analysed over 300 patients suffering from Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD or BMD). Deletions have been characterised which encompass either the pERT87 (DXS164) locus only, the XJ1.1 (DXS206) and HIP25 loci only, or all three loci. These loci have been shown to lie within the DMD region covering several hundred kilobases (kb) of DNA. One mildly affected BMD patient possesses a deletion of at least 110 kb including exons of the DMD gene. Other patients with similar exon deletions, or smaller deletions, show the more severe phenotype typical of DMD. We conclude from these studies that the severity of the clinical phenotype cannot be explained on the basis of the size of the deletion. We discuss this in the context of candidate gene sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A population study has been carried out among schoolchildren in the City of Coventry in order to ascertain the frequency of mental retardation associated with the fragile X chromosome. The prevalence of the fragile X mental retardation syndrome in the 11 to 16 year age group (the age of greatest ascertainment) was about 1.0 per 1,000 and therefore indicates that the syndrome is a major cause of mental retardation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a community based study of 156 boys with idiopathic, severe mental retardation. The boys were examined and a pedigree taken before the cytogenetic results were known. The prevalence of the fragile X chromosome among this group of boys was high: 9% in the whole group and 11% after 39 boys with specific features had been excluded. The fragile X syndrome is therefore an important cause of idiopathic, severe retardation. Its clinical features of large head, large testes, and IQ in the 35 to 70 range were often but not always present in the 14 boys identified in this study. In the whole group, the recurrence of severe mental subnormality was high: 1 in 8 for brothers and 1 in 25 for sisters. This high recurrence was partly due to the fragile X syndrome, partly to X linked mental retardation not accompanied by cytogenetic abnormalities, and partly due to autosomal recessive disease. Autosomal recessive disease was perhaps higher in the West Midlands than elsewhere (such as British Columbia, for example 1) because of the disproportionate contribution by Asian immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Chromosome analysis using conventional staining, G banding, and, after BUdR incorporation, two R banding methods, one using Hoechst and one acridine orange, were performed on lymphocytes from a pair of female monozygotic twins. The culture conditions were designed to show the presence of the fragile X (q27-28) which had previously been found to be segregating in the family. One twin was of higher than normal intelligence and the other had been diagnosed as mentally retarded. The frequency of the occurrence of the early/active fragile X compared to the overall total of informative fragile X was determined using both methods described above and was also compared with previous published data in the form of a graph showing percentage of early/active fragile X against intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This is a study of 138 index patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and their families, in which the selection of index patients was solely on the basis of their residence in Birmingham. Clinical analysis showed that severe disease was as likely to indicate dominant or non-genetic RP as to indicate recessive disease, and that each of three genetic types of uncomplicated RP could probably be divided into two entities. Autosomal dominant RP accounted for at least 22% of index patients but this was likely to be an underestimate because of the low penetrance of the disease. Autosomal recessive disease accounted for not more than 10% of index patients and its rarity was indicated by a high consanguinity rate. Recognisable X linked disease occurred in about 14% of index patients, a similar figure to other studies. The 37% of patients with uncomplicated RP and no obviously affected relative have either autosomal dominant RP or non-genetic RP; it is difficult to know the relative proportions of each. The risks for descendants of patients with recessive disease are clear. The risks of symptomatic RP in the offspring of patients who do, or who might have, dominant RP range from 1 in 2 to 1 in 37 according to the family history and the severity of the RP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using multiple sources, an attempt was made to ascertain all symptomatic cases of retinitis pigmentosa living in the City of Birmingham in June 1978. These methods revealed a prevalence for all ages of 1 in 4869 and a prevalence in the age group 45 to 64 years of 1 in 3195. There was a higher prevalence than expected among young Muslims with consanguineous parents. However, the most accurate prevalence of uncomplicated retinitis pigmentosa among adults was considered to be that found in an outpatient clinic serving adult diabetics, namely, six patients in a clinic population of 8000 to 10 000. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a study of 35 index patients who developed myotonic dystrophy between birth and 30 years (neonatal cases aware excluded), 30 could be categorised into two clinical types. The 13 type 1 patients had a more severe limb weakness, of patchy distribution, associated with proportional facial weakness. The 17 type 2 patients had a milder and more diffuse limb weakness; their facial weakness, however, was very pronounced and preceded the limb weakness by several years. All but one of the 25 affected relatives who were examined belonged to the same category as their index relative, providing evidence that the cause of the clinical heterogeneity was genetic. Subsequent observations showed that mental retardation, male infertility, and neonatally affected offspring were commoner in type 2 patients. Congenital myotonic dystrophy could occur among the offspring of either affected males or affected females, but neonatal symptoms were confined to the offspring of affected women. The overall risk for having neonatally affected offspring for this prospective study of young adult patients was 7 in 38, and for the offspring of affected females 7 in 27. The risk for having a surviving child whose mental or physical handicap or both required special schooling was 1 in 12 for males and 4 in 27 for females. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The segregation of chromosomes 13 distinguishable by Q band fluorescent polymorphisms has been studied in three families with retinoblastoma. The recombination fraction for two of these families and four families previously reported did not differ significantly from 50%. Since a high recombination fraction has been predicted from chiasma frequency between the centromere of chromosome 13 and 13q14 these results neither confirm nor refute the location of the autosomal dominant gene predisposing to retinoblastoma in 13q14. The use of fluorescent markers is not suitable for early recognition of gene carriers in families with retinoblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The main purpose of this study was to see if the offspring of surviving neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, or ganglioneuroma patients have themselves a risk for developing tumours. No such risk was found. There was a total of 45 liveborn children who were all healthy. These children have passed through about 37 lifetimes of risk for developing neuroblastoma and about six lifetimes of risk for developing ganglioneuroma. No excess of cancers was found among parents and sibs. It was interesting that there was a large female excess (35:12) among these survivors. One factor which may give rise to a better prognosis in females is the tendency of their tumours to mature to benign forms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]