A Case of Partial Trisomy 9pter --> q13 due to Paternal Balanced Translocation t (9;21) (q13;q21) / 대한진단검사의학회지

Trisomy 9p is one of the most frequent autosomal anomalies compatible with a long survival rate. Clinical characteristics are craniofacial dysmorphisms including hypertelorism, prominent nose, deepset eyes, and down-slanting palpebral fissures. The degree of clinical severity in trisomy 9 roughly correlates with the extent of trisomic chromosomal material. If the trisomic segments include the long arm of chromosome 9, clinical findings may not fit into the trisomy 9p but rather resemble trisomy 9 mosaic syndrome and are associated with muscular and cardiac anomalies. Therefore, breakpoints as well as clinical findings need to be precisely defined for differential diagnosis. Cases with trisomy 9p, especially involving proximal 9q, are very rare in Korea. The patient was a 1,920 g male infant born at 36 weeks 3 days of gestation to a 27-yr-old mother and 32-yr-old father after Cesarian section. The patient showed specific craniofacial anomalies, cardiac defects, and hand anomalies. Routine cytogenetic analysis, performed on peripheral blood using GTG banding, showed 46,XY,+der(9)t (9;21)(q13;q21),-21pat. Furthermore, FISH (Vysis Inc., USA) analysis with whole chromosome painting probes confirmed the derivative chromosome 9.

Incidence of hearing loss and importance of risk factors in the neonatal intensive care unit / 소아과

PURPOSE: To assess the incidence of neonatal hearing loss in a neonatal intensive care unit and the relative importance of risk factors for hearing imparement in a neonatal intensive care unit which the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing(JCIH) had recommended. METHODS: One thousand, two hundred and one newborns admitted to the Good Moonhwa Intensive Care Unit from May 2003 to December 2005 were assesed using the automated auditory brainstem response(AABR). The screening was performed on those aged more than 36 weeks and weighing more than 2,200 g. We divided the infants into two groups, 'pass' and 'refer'. The 'refer' group were retested one month later, and if classified as 'refer' during the retest, were referred to a hearing impairment clinic. RESULTS: From the 1,201 neonates, 1,187(98.8 percent) passed the test and 14(1.2 percent) failed. 293(24.4 percent) of the 1,201 neonates had a risk factor for hearing impairment; 282(96.2 percent) passed the test and 11(3.8 percent) failed. The group with risk factors were shown to have a higher incidence of hearing loss(P<0.001). The neonates in the refer group were shown to have a higher incidence of ototoxic drugs(P<0.001), low birth weight(<1,500 g)(P<0.001) and craniofacial anomalies(P=0.007). On the other hand, there were no statistical differences between the pass and refer groups in congenital infection, hyperbilirubinemia, bacterial meningitis, low Apgar scores, prolonged mechanical ventilation and syndromes known to include hearing loss. CONCLUSION: In order to identify hearing-impaired infants within an appropriate period, neonatal hearing screening tests and identification of the risk factors for neonatal hearing loss are important.

Investigation of Automated Neonatal Hearing Screening for Early Detection of Childhood Hearing Impairment / 소아과

PURPOSE: Early diagnosis of congenital hearing loss through the neonatal hearing screening test minimizes language defect. This research intends to identify frequency of congenital hearing loss in infants through neonatal hearing screening test with the aim of communicating the importance of hearing test for infants. METHODS: From May 20, 2003 to May 19, 2004, infants were subjected to Automated Auditory Brainstem Response test during one month of birth to conduct the test with 35 dB sound. Infants who passed the 1st round of hearing test, were classified into 'pass' group whereas those who did not were classified into 'refer' group. Infants who did not 'pass' in the hearing test conducted within one month of birth were subjected to re-test one month later, and if classified as 'refer' during the re-test, they were subjected to the diagnosis for validation of hearing loss by requesting test to the hearing loss clinic. RESULTS: There was no difference among the 'pass' and 'refer' group in terms of form of childbirth, weight at birth and gestational age. In the 1st test, total of 45 infants were classified into 'refer' group. Six among 35 who were subjected to re-test (17%) did not pass the re-test, and all were diagnosed with congenital hearing loss. This corresponds to 0.35% (3.5 per 1, 000) among total number of 1, 718 subjects. CONCLUSION: In our study the congenital hearing loss tends to be considerably more frequently than congenital metabolic disorder. Accordingly, newly born infants are strongly recommended to undergo neonatal hearing screening test.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Recurrent Trisomy 18 Syndrome / 대한진단검사의학회지

Though data on the recurrent risk after the birth of one fetus or infant with trisomy 18 is sparse, it has been presumed that the recurrence risk would be lower than the 1% for full trisomy 21 syndrome cases. We report a rare recurrent trisomy 18 found in amniocentesis in a family in which both parents had normal blood karyotype. Molecular analysis was undertaken in the second episode of trisomy 18 and a maternal meiosis II nondisjunction error was diagnosed.