Inherited duplication of the short arm of chromosome 18p11.32–p11.31 associated with developmental delay/intellectual disability

Abstract

Duplications of 18p have been reported in the literature associated with a range of different abnormalities and also in patients with normal phenotypes. The majority of these reports are based solely on G-banded cytogenetic evaluation. The use of arrayCGH characterization has improved the ability to define regions of imbalance and is helping to identify potential underlying triplosufficiency of any duplicated genes. We report on a family where the father and his two daughters all have a duplication 18p11.32–p11.31 characterized by microarray. They present with variable levels of intellectual disability/developmental delay and behavioural difficulties without any physical anomalies. This family contributes toward the growing knowledge of pure duplications of 18p and provides information on interpretation of novel array findings in the context of family history. It also reiterates the importance of elucidating a detailed learning and developmental phenotype and family pedigree in aiding interpretation of genetic testing results.