Identification of subtelomeric genomic imbalances and breakpoint mapping with quantitative PCR in 296 individuals with congenital defects and/or mental retardation

Abstract

Background: Submicroscopic imbalances in the subtelomeric regions of the chromosomes are considered to play an important role in the aetiology of mental retardation (MR). The aim of the study was to evaluate a quantitative PCR (qPCR) protocol established by Boehm et al. (2004) in the clinical routine of subtelomeric testing. Results: 296 patients with MR and a normal karyotype (500-550 bands) were screened for subtelomeric imbalances by using qPCR combined with SYBR green detection. In total, 17 patients (5.8%) with 20 subtelomeric imbalances were identified. Six of the aberrations (2%) were classified as causative for the symptoms, because they occurred either de novo in the patients (5 cases) or the aberration were be detected in the patient and an equally affected parent (1 case). The extent of the deletions ranged from 1.8 to approximately 10 Mb, duplications were 1.8 to approximately 5 Mb in size. In 6 patients, the copy number variations (CNVs) were rated as benign polymorphisms, and the clinical relevance of these CNVs remains unclear in 5 patients (1.7%). Therefore, the overall frequency of clinically relevant imbalances ranges between 2% and 3.7% in our cohort.