Familial Constitutional Rearrangement of Chromosomes 4 & 8: Phenotypically Normal Mother and Abnormal Progeny

Abstract

Balanced chromosome translocations carriers mostly do not have recognizable phenotypic expression but may have more risk of recurrent spontaneous abortions &/or children with serious birth defects due to unbalanced chromosome complements. Unbalanced chromosomal rearrangements have variable clinical expression and are rare. We present here a case report of three siblings affected with intellectual disability and minor dysmorphic features of face and limbs, born to a non-consanguineous couple in which mother had 5 abortions. The constitutional chromosome analysis revealed balanced translocation t (4;8) in mother and all the three siblings were karyotypically normal. Chromosomal microarray in one of the probands revealed partial monosomy 8pter-p23 and a partial trisomy 4pter-p16. Phenotypic features were recorded in 3 probands using Human Phenotype Ontology terms to query web-based tool Phenomizer. The harmonized description using globally accepted ontology is very important especially in case of rare genetic conditions and the heterogeneous phenotypes which make it even more challenging. The prevalence of sub-microscopic unbalanced translocations may be under-reported due to lesser use of molecular genetic analysis. The familial expression of abnormal phenotypes including intellectual disability make the individuals candidate for molecular genetic analysis and phenotyping to help defer the status of idiopathic mental retardation and identify sub-entity of genetic condition.