A 300-kb microduplication of 7q36.3 in a patient with triphalangeal thumb-polysyndactyly syndrome combined with congenital heart disease and optic disc coloboma: a case report

Identification of chromosomal abnormalities in miscarriages by CNV-Seq

OBJECTIVE

The primary object of this study is to analyze chromosomal abnormalities in miscarriages detected by copy number variants sequencing (CNV-Seq), establish potential pathways or genes related to miscarriages, and provide guidance for birth health in the following pregnancies.

METHODS

This study enrolled 580 miscarriage cases with paired clinical information and chromosomal detection results analyzed by CNV-Seq. Further bioinformatic analyses were performed on validated pathogenic CNVs (pCNVs).

RESULTS

Of 580 miscarriage cases, three were excluded as maternal cell contamination, 357 cases showed abnormal chromosomal results, and the remaining 220 were normal, with a positive detection rate of 61.87% (357/577). In the 357 miscarriage cases, 470 variants were discovered, of which 65.32% (307/470) were pathogenic. Among all variants detected, 251 were numerical chromosomal abnormalities, and 219 were structural abnormalities. With advanced maternal age, the proportion of numerical abnormalities increased, but the proportion of structural abnormalities decreased. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway and gene ontology analysis revealed that eleven pathways and 636 biological processes were enriched in pCNVs region genes. Protein-protein interaction analysis of 226 dosage-sensitive genes showed that TP53, CTNNB1, UBE3A, EP300, SOX2, ATM, and MECP2 might be significant in the development of miscarriages.

CONCLUSION

Our study provides evidence that chromosomal abnormalities contribute to miscarriages, and emphasizes the significance of microdeletions or duplications in causing miscarriages apart from numerical abnormalities. Essential genes found in pCNVs regions may account for miscarriages which need further validation.

Awareness about Patterson syndrome among dental students

The aim is to create awareness about Patterson syndrome among dental students. Patterson-Stevenson-Fontaine syndrome is a very rare condition marked by irregular facial bone and tissue growth (mandibulofacial dysostosis) as well as limb abnormalities. A recessed jaw (retrognathism), cleft palate, and external ear defects are all possible symptoms of this disorder. A total of 112 undergraduate dental students participated in a longitudinal cross-sectional sample. To assess college students' awareness about Patterson syndrome, a self-administered, closed-ended questionnaire was developed and distributed. The only language allowed was English. The results were analyzed in SPSS software version 23. 10.71% of females and 14.29% of males were aware about Patterson syndrome. 32.14% of females and 38.39% of males were aware that Patterson syndrome was a rare adrenal disorder. We can conclude that very few of the population which was only 25% of the dental students were aware about Patterson syndrome and this survey helped in creating awareness about this syndrome.

Human thumb consists of three phalanges and lacks metacarpal? A morphometric study on the long bones of the hand

PURPOSE

For many years, it was thought that the thumb consists of just two phalanges that differentiate it from the other four medial triphalangeal fingers. But there are some old reports that few former scientists believed the thumb has three phalanges and it lacked a metacarpal, and the thumb metacarpal is a phalanx. So this anthropometric study was carried out by investigating the morphology of the long bones of the hand and correlations between the thumb metacarpal and other miniature long bones of the hand.

METHODS

We studied anterior-posterior X-ray images of the right hands of 80 individuals from 18 to 65 years old. The exploration targets were the length of all metacarpals (MC), proximal phalanges (PP), middle phalanges (MP), and distal phalanges (DP). Friedman Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance and Dunn's post hoc test were carried out to compare the means of all variables. The correlation between all quantitative factors was done by Spearman Rank Correlation (Spearman's Rho) coefficient.

RESULTS

Our results showed that the length of the phalanges and the total length of the fingers are independent of the related metacarpal length (P < 0.001). Also, the thumb metacarpal length in comparison to all bones of the hand was significantly different from all long bones of the hand except the proximal phalanx of the middle finger (P = 1).

CONCLUSION

Based on the morphology of the long bones of the hand and the high similarity between the thumb metacarpal and phalanges especially the proximal phalanx of the middle finger, it can be suggested that the current thumb metacarpal is a proximal phalanx of the thumb.