Clinical and molecular overlap in overgrowth syndromes.

Here, we report the clinical and molecular analysis of 75 patients with overgrowth and mental retardation, including 45 previously reported cases [Rio et al., 2003; Baujat et al., 2004]. Two groups are distinguished: group I corresponding to patients with recognizable overgrowth syndromes (Sotos syndrome (SS), Weaver syndrome (WS), Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS), and del(22)(qter) syndrome) (60 cases) and group II corresponding to unclassified cases (15 patients). We investigated NSD1 and GPC3 deletions or mutations, 11p15 abnormalities, and 22qter deletions. Surprisingly, in Group I, two SS patients had 11p15 abnormalities and two patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome had NSD1 aberrations. In group II, two cases of del(22)(qter) were identified but neither NSD1, 11p15, nor GPC3 abnormalities were detected. These results emphasize the clinical and molecular overlap in overgrowth conditions. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.