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Twenty-one patients, including our two cases, with variable clinical phenotype, ranging from mild learning disability to severe congenital malformations or overlapping features with DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndromes (DG/VCFS), have been shown to have a chromosome duplication 22q11 of the region that is deleted in patients with DG/VCFS. The reported cases have been identified primarily by interphase FISH and could have escaped identification and been missed by routine cytogenetic analysis. Here we report on two inherited cases, referred to us, to rule out 22q11 microdeletion diagnosis of VCFS. The first patient was a 2-month-old girl, who presented with cleft palate, minor dysmorphic features including short palpebral fissures, widely spaced eyes, long fingers, and hearing loss. Her affected mother had mild mental retardation and learning disabilities. The second patient was a 7½-year-old boy with velopharyngeal insufficiency and mild developmental delay. He had a left preauricular tag, bifida uvula, bilateral fifth finger clinodactyly, and bilateral cryptorchidism. His facial features appeared mildly dysmorphic with hypertelorism, large nose, and micro/retrognathia. The affected father had mild mental retardation and had similar facial features. FISH analysis of interphase cells showed three TUPLE1-probe signals with two chromosome-specific identification probes in each cell. FISH analysis did not show the duplication on the initial testing of metaphase chromosomes. On review, band q11.2 was brighter on one chromosome 22 in some metaphase spreads. The paucity of reported cases of 22q11.2 microduplication likely reflects a combination of phenotypic diversity and the difficulty of diagnosis by FISH analysis on metaphase spreads. These findings illustrate the importance of scanning interphase nuclei when performing FISH analysis for any of the genomic disorders. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Background Premature ovarian failure (POF) is defined as amenorrhoea for >6 months, occurring before the age of 40, with an FSH serum level in the menopausal range. Although Xq deletions have been known for a long time to be associated with POF, the mechanisms involved in X deletions in order to explain ovarian failure remain unknown. In order to look for potentially cryptic chromosomal imbalance, we used high-resolution genomic analysis to characterize X chromosome deletions associated with POF. Methods Three patients with POF presenting terminal Xq deletions detected by conventional cytogenetics were included in the study. Genome wide microarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) at a resolution of 1 Mb and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed. Results Microarray CGH and FISH studies characterized the three deletions as del(X)(q21.2), del(X)(q21.31) and del(X)(q22.33). Microarray CGH showed that the del(X)(q21.31) was also associated with a Xpter duplication including the SHOX gene. In these patients with POF, deletions or duplications of autosomes have been excluded. Conclusion This study is the first one using microarray in patients with POF. It demonstrates that putative X chromosome deletions can be associated with other chromosomal imbalances such as duplications, and therefore illustrates the use of microarray CGH to screen chromosomal abnormalities in patients with POF.

The phenotype of monosomy 18p varies widely, the main clinical manifestations being mental and growth retardation, and craniofacial dysmorphism. Clinical features also include growth hormone (GH) deficiency, or holoprosencephaly (HPE). Haploinsufficiency for TGIF, mapped to 18p11.3, is not generally sufficient to cause HPE. To perform a genotype-phenotype correlation, and delineate the region involved in GH deficiency, we carried out a molecular characterization of the 18p deletions, in three patients with midline defects. Two unrelated children, a 7-month-old girl and a 2-month-old boy had del(18p) syndrome and GH deficiency. In addition, the boy had HPE. HPE genes, SHH, ZIC2, SIX3, and TGIF, were tested by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and quantitative multiplex of PCR short fluorescent fragments analyses. A deletion of TGIF was confirmed, without any associated mutation for the tested HPE genes, suggesting the role of other genetic or environmental factors. The third patient was his moderately retarded mother. A set of chromosome 18p-specific BACs clones was used as fluorescence in-situ hybridization probes to define the breakpoints. Recently, it was found that there seem to be a breakpoint cluster in the centromeric region at 18p11.1, which was not observed in our patients. The girl was found to have a deletion of 10.3 Mb, with a breakpoint in 18p11.22. The boy and his mother had a smaller deletion (8 Mb), with a breakpoint in 18p11.23. These findings suggest that the distal region on 18p is involved in the main clinical features, and GH deficiency, in 18p deletions.