Nonmosaic tetrasomy 15q25.2 → qter identified with SNP microarray in a patient with characteristic facial appearance and review of the literature.

Tetrasomy for the distal chromosome 15q is rare, and only 22 patients (including 6 cases without detailed information) have been described to date in the literature. Here we report on another patient with nonmosaic tetrasomy 15q25.2-qter resulted from an inverted duplication of distal chromosome 15. This patient presents with features of development delay, arachnodactyly, joint contractures and typical facial dysmorphism including frontal bossing, short palpebral fissures, long philtrum, low-set ears, high-arched palate and retrognathia. Unlike most of the related patients, abdominal ultrasound test and brain MRI showed normal. Karyotyping analysis revealed a supernumerary marker chromosome presented in all metaphase cells examined. Parental karyotyping analysis was normal, indicating a de novo chromosome aberration of the patient. SNP microarray analysis found a two copy gain of 17.7 Mb from the distal long arm of chromosome 15 (15q25.2-qter). Further FISH analysis using SureFISH 15q26.3 IGF1R probe proved an inverted duplication of distal long arm of chromosome 15. The segmental duplications which lie in the hotspots of 15q24-26 might increase the susceptibility of chromosome rearrangement. Compared with the George-Abraham' study [2012], ADAMTSL3 might be more related to the cardiac disorders in tetrasomy 15q patients. Considering all patients reported in the literature, different mosaic degrees and segmental sizes don't correlate to the severity of phenotypes. A clear delineation on tetrasomy for distal chromosome 15q could still be investigated.