A unique coincidence of a 17q12 deletion and duplication in a Czech family led to a refined genotype-phenotype correlation.

Chromosomal band 17q12 is a gene-rich region flanked by segmental duplications, making the region prone to deletions and duplications via the non-allelic homologous recombination mechanism. While deletions cause a well-described disorder with a specific phenotype called renal cysts and diabetes mellitus, the phenotype caused by reciprocal duplications is less specific, primarily because of variable expressivity, and incomplete penetrance. We present an unusual family with four children carrying the 17q12 microduplication inherited from their clinically healthy mother, who was a carrier of both the duplication and, interestingly, also of an atypical deletion of the 17q12 region. The duplication was inherited from her diabetic father and the deletion from her diabetic mother who also suffered from a renal disorder. Clinical manifestations in the family were variable, but all children showed some degree of a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as epilepsy, intellectual disability, delayed speech development, or attention deficit disorder. The simultaneous occurrence of a deletion and duplication in the same chromosomal region in one family is very rare, and to our knowledge, individuals carrying both a deletion and a duplication of this region have never been described.

A boy with developmental delay and mosaic supernumerary inv dup(5)(p15.33p15.1) leading to distal 5p tetrasomy - case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: With only 11 patients reported, 5p tetrasomy belongs to rare postnatal findings. Most cases are due to small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMCs) or isochromosomes. The patients share common but unspecific symptoms such as developmental delay, seizures, ventriculomegaly, hypotonia, and fifth finger clinodactyly. Simple interstitial duplications leading to trisomies of parts of 5p are much more frequent and better described. Duplications encompassing 5p13.2 cause a defined syndrome with macrocephaly, distinct facial phenotype, heart defects, talipes equinovarus, feeding difficulties, respiratory distress and anomalies of the central nervous system, developmental delay and hypotonia. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a boy with dysmorphic features, developmental delay, intellectual disability and congenital anomalies, and a mosaic sSMC inv dup(5)(p15.33p15.1). He is the fourth and the oldest reported patient with distal 5p tetrasomy. His level of mosaicism was significantly different in lymphocytes (13.2%) and buccal cells (64.7%). The amplification in our patient is smaller than that in the three previously published patients but the only phenotype difference is the absence of seizures in our patient. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations indicate that for the assessment of prognosis, especially with respect to intellectual functioning, the level of mosaicism could be more important than the extent of amplification and the number of extra copies. Evaluation of the phenotypical effect of rare chromosomal aberrations is challenging and each additional case is valuable for refinement of the genotype-phenotype correlation. Moreover, our patient demonstrates that if the phenotype is severe and if the level of sSMC mosaicism is low in lymphocytes, other tissues should be tested.