Drayer's syndrome of mental retardation, microcephaly, short stature and absent phalanges is caused by a recurrent deletion of chromosome 15(q26.2-->qter).
We reevaluated a unique family with two sibs who had a presumed autosomal recessively inherited syndrome characterized by mental retardation, microcephaly, short stature and absent phalanges. This family was originally described by Drayer et al. in 1977. Using modern molecular techniques, we demonstrated that the syndrome is caused by the recurrence of an apparently de novo 15qter deletion of 5.8 Mb. Analysis of polymorphic markers revealed that the deletion was of maternal origin in both cases, indicating germline mosaicism in the clinically unaffected mother. This study demonstrates the possibility of parental mosaicism and the risk of recurrence in sibs for terminal subtelomeric deletions.
Rump
P
P
Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. p.rump@medgen.umcg.nl
Dijkhuizen
T
T
Sikkema-Raddatz
B
B
Lemmink
H H
HH
Vos
Y J
YJ
Verheij
J B G M
JB
van Ravenswaaij
C M A
CM
D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D050278:Finger Phalanges / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008831:Microcephaly / Q000235:genetics*; D009030:Mosaicism; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D013577:Syndrome