Belkady B, Elkhattabi L, Elkarhat Z, Zarouf L, Razoki L, Aboulfaraj J, Nassereddine S, Cadi R, Rouba H, Barakat A. Chromosomal Abnormalities in Patients with Intellectual Disability: A 21-Year Retrospective Study.
Hum Hered 2019;
83:274-282. [PMID:
31064002 DOI:
10.1159/000499710]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Intellectual disability (ID) has been defined as a considerably reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn new skills. It is associated with life-long intellectual and adaptive functioning impairments that have a profound impact on individuals, families, and society. It affects about 3% of the general population. ID often comes out with other mental conditions like attention deficit, hyperactivity, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and it can be part of a malformation syndrome that affects other organs. It may be syndromic (S-ID) or non-syndromic (NS-ID).
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study were to identify the profile of intellectually disable patients being referred for cytogenetic analysis in Morocco, to determine the prevalence of chromosomal abnormalities in a Moroccan group, and to compare the results with those of analogous studies from other countries.
PARTICIPANTS
We included data from Moroccan patients with NS-ID and others with S-ID (mostly Down syndrome cases) who have been referred between 1996 and 2016. 1,626 patients were involved in this study, 1,200 were referred with a clinical diagnosis of Down syndrome, 37 were clinically diagnosed for ASD with ID, and 389 were suspected of NS-ID.
RESULTS
We identified 1,200 cases of Down syndrome. In 1,096 analyses (91.3%), a cytogenetic variant of trisomy 21 was identified: standard trisomy 21 in 1,037 cases (94.6%), a translocation in 34 cases (3.10%), and mosaicism in 25 cases (2.3%). The cytogenetic analysis among ASD with ID cases did not reveal any specific chromosomal abnormalities. The present study also shows that chromosomal abnormalities were present in 6.43% of the patients with NS-ID (25 abnormal karyotypes out of 389 NS-ID cases). Autosomal structural abnormalities were the largest proportion of chromosomal aberrations.
CONCLUSION
The high rate of chromosomal abnormalities found in the Moroccan patients studied demonstrates the capital importance of cytogenetic evaluation in patients who show ID or any clinical development abnormality.
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