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Nicole Morichon-Delvallez

Publications and source records attributed to Nicole Morichon-Delvallez.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Molecular characterisation of a prenatally diagnosed 5q15q21.3 deletion and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound examination performed on a 32-year old woman at 30 weeks' gestation showed the presence of fetal malformations. Amniocentesis was performed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cytogenetic analysis of cultured amniocytes revealed an interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5. Molecular studies confirmed that the deletion included the 5q15-21.3 region and was 14 Mb in size. Therefore, the karyotype was: 46,XY,del(5)(q15q21.3). In addition, analysis of polymorphic DNA markers showed that the deletion was of paternal origin. CONCLUSIONS: The pregnancy was terminated at 34 weeks' gestation. At autopsy, the fetus displayed dysmorphic features, thin limbs and renal abnormalities. The clinical findings observed in the fetus as well as in 20 cases reported previously allowed us to further delineate the phenotype of such interstitial 5q15q21.3 deletions.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Cytogenetic and histological features of a human embryo with homogeneous chromosome 8 trisomy.

BACKGROUND: Homogeneous and complete trisomy 8 is extremely rare. With one recent neonatal exception, all reported cases have been mosaic, due to mitotic non-disjunction during early zygotic development. We report a case of chromosome 8 trisomy in a human embryo examined at Carnegie stage 11 (25 days post-fertilization). It presented severe cardiovascular and central nervous system malformations. METHODS: The unusual bifid heart in this embryo spurred a detailed histological examination, karyotyping of a chorionic villus sample and subsequent FISH on inter-phase nuclei of intra-embryonic sections. RESULTS: Trophoblast cells had a karyotype of 47,XX, +8. Within the embryo proper, FISH demonstrated that the trisomy 8 was homogeneous in embryonic as well as extra-embryonic tissues. FQ-PCR supports a meiosis I origin of non-disjunction. In sections, the pharyngeal arches (including cardiac outflow tract), forebrain, mesonephros and liver were absent. Somites and yolk sac blood vessels were irregularly shaped. CONCLUSION: We show that homogeneous, intra-embryonic trisomy 8 is compatible with implantation and early human development. Molecular pathways that may be compromised and their impact on organogenesis are discussed.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Functional disomy of the Xq28 chromosome region.

We report on two patients, a boy and a girl, with an additional Xq28 chromosome segment translocated onto the long arm of an autosome. The karyotypes were 46,XY,der(10)t(X;10)(q28;qter) and 46,XX,der(4)t(X;4)(q28;q34), respectively. In both cases, the de novo cryptic unbalanced X-autosome translocation resulted in a Xq28 chromosome functional disomy. To our knowledge, at least 17 patients with a distal Xq chromosome functional disomy have been described in the literature. This is the third report of a girl with an unbalanced translocation yielding such a disomy. When the clinical features of both patients are compared to those observed in patients reported in the literature, a distinct phenotype emerges including severe mental retardation, facial dysmorphic features with a wide face, a small mouth and a thin pointed nose, major axial hypotonia, severe feeding problems and proneness to infections. A clinically oriented FISH study using subtelomeric probes is necessary to detect such a cryptic rearrangement.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Molecular screening of the ZFHX1B gene in prenatally diagnosed isolated agenesis of the corpus callosum.

OBJECTIVE: Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is the most common malformation of the central nervous system and may be associated with mental retardation. ACC is found in 40% of the cases of Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS), a polytopic embryonic defect including a distinctive facial gestalt, severe mental retardation, epilepsy and postnatal microcephaly as constant features. Other manifestations involve Hirschsprung disease, cardiac defects, renal abnormalities and hypospadias. Among this broad spectrum of malformations recently associated with haploinsufficiency of the zinc finger homeobox 1B gene (ZFHX1B), ACC can therefore be the only feature to be detected prenatally. Thus, we studied a group of 18 fetuses terminated for ACC and performed mutational analysis of the ZFHX1B gene in six selected cases. METHODS: Diagnosis of agenesis of the ACC was performed by prenatal echography survey. Screening for ZFHX1B deletions was performed by poly (CA) microsatellite markers studies and real-time semi-quantitative PCR. Mutational analysis was performed by single-strand conformation polymorphisms analysis (SSCP). RESULTS: Neither deletion encompassing the ZFHX1B locus nor mutation could be detected in any of the six fetuses analysed. CONCLUSION: ZFHX1B is not a major gene in isolated ACC. However, analysis of MWS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of ACC, especially when the facial features raise the possibility of MWS.

Agenesis of Corpus Callosum↗

Reproductive genetic counselling in non-mosaic 47,XXY patients: implications for preimplantation or prenatal diagnosis: Case report and review.

With an incidence of approximately 1 in 500 male newborns, the 47,XXY genotype is one the most common sex chromosome anomalies. It is also the most frequent genetic cause of human infertility. Some non-mosaic 47,XXY patients have sperm production which allows infertility treatment to be offered by ICSI. Therefore, the risk of transmitting a chromosome anomaly to the next generation is an important problem in reproductive genetic counselling of these patients. Here, we report on a twin pregnancy where two karyotypically normal neonates 46,XX and 46,XY were born after the use of ICSI in assisted reproduction of a patient with a non-mosaic 47,XXY syndrome. To date, only 38 evolving pregnancies including the present cases, have been reported after ICSI using sperm from non-mosaic 47,XXY patients. Although these data are scarce, they suggest that the risk of chromosome anomaly in the offspring of these patients is low; hence, their reproductive genetic counselling can be reassuring, and management of the pregnancy can proceed with caution.

Adult↗