Structural chromosomal anomalies detected by prenatal genetic diagnosis: our experience

The prenatal diagnosis is currently widely spread and facilitates the acquiring of important genetic information about the fetus by a rate extremely accelerate and considered without precedent. In this paper, we like to present our experience concerning the genetic diagnosis and counseling offered for pregnancies in which a structural chromosomal aberration was found. The study group is formed by 528 prenatal samples of amniotic fluid and chorionic villi, received by our laboratory from 2006 through October 2012 for cytogenetic diagnosis. The appropriate genetic investigation was selected based on the indications for prenatal diagnosis. The cases with structural chromosomal anomalies and polymorphic variants were analyzed as regard to the maternal age, gestational age, referral indications and type of chromosomal anomaly found. A total number of 21 structural chromosomal anomalies and polymorphic variants were identified in the study group. Out of 21 structural chromosomal anomalies and polymorphic variants, six deletions and microdeletions, four situations with abnormal long "p" arm of acrocentric chromosomes, two duplications, two reciprocal translocations, two inversions, two additions, one Robertsonian translocation associating trisomy 13, one 9q heteromorphism and one complex chromosome rearrangement were noticed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Romanian study in which the diagnostic strategies and the management of the prenatal cases with structural rearrangements are presented. The data provided about the diagnosis strategy and the management of the prenatal cases with structural chromosomal anomalies represents a useful tool in genetic counseling of pregnancies diagnosed with rare structural chromosomal anomalies.