Interstitial 9q22.3 microdeletion: clinical and molecular characterisation of a newly recognised overgrowth syndrome

In the course of a systematic whole genome screening of patients with unexplained overgrowth syndrome by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridisation (array-CGH), we have identified two children with nearly identical 6.5 Mb-long de novo interstitial deletions at 9q22.32 - q22.33. The clinical phenotype includes macrocephaly, overgrowth and trigonocephaly. In addition, both children present with psychomotor delay, hyperactivity and distinctive facial features. Further analysis with a high-resolution custom microarray covering the whole breakpoint intervals with fosmids mapped the deletion breakpoints within 100- kb intervals: although the deletion boundaries are different for the two patients, nearly the same genes are deleted in both cases. We suggest therefore that microdeletion of 9q22.32 - q22.33 is a novel cause of overgrowth and mental retardation. Its association with distinctive facial features should help in recognising this novel phenotype.