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Familial Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) with recurrent RSTS siblings and apparently unaffected parents is rare; such cases might result from parental somatic and/or germline mosaicism. Parental low-level (T (p.Gln1079*) in CREBBP in the siblings via trio whole-exome sequencing. High-depth next-generation sequencing (NGS) for the parents revealed a low-level (T (p.Gln1079*) non-sense variant did not trigger nonsense-mediated mRNA decay to reduce CREBBP mRNA levels. Transcriptome analysis revealed 151 downregulated mRNAs and 132 upregulated mRNAs between the patients and normal individuals. This study emphasizes that high-depth NGS using multiple specimens might be applied for a family with an affected sibling caused by an apparent CREBBP DNV to identify potential low-level parental mosaicism and provide an assessment of recurrence risk.

Abstract Background Fetal femur length (FL) is an important biometric index in prenatal screening. The etiology of short femur is diverse, with some pathogenic causes leading to adverse outcomes. To improve the accuracy and practicability of diagnosis, we investigated the value of genetic analysis in prenatal diagnosis of short femur. Methods We examined chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) (64 fetuses) and karyotyping (59 fetuses) data retrospectively for short femur without fetal growth restriction (FGR). Genetic testing was conducted for 15 fetuses. Results Karyotyping and CMA detected chromosomal aberrations at rates of 13.6% and 27.2%, respectively. Among fetuses with other abnormalities, detection rates were 21.0% higher with CMA than karyotyping. CMA identified chromosomal abnormalities in 36.4% of cases with a FL 2–4 standard deviations (SDs) below the gestational age (GA) mean. Abnormality detection by CMA reached 38.5% in the second trimester. Duplication of 12p, 16p13.1 deletion, and uniparental disomy 16 were identified by CMA in three cases of short femur. Gene sequencing detected clinically notable mutations in 12/15 fetuses, among which 9/12 fetuses had FLs >4 SDs below the GA mean. Conclusions CMA yielded a higher detection value than karyotyping in fetuses with other abnormalities or a FL 2–4 SDs below the GA mean during the second trimester. Gene sequencing should be performed when FL is >4 SDs below the mean.