Application of Array-Based Comparative Genomic Hybridization to Pediatric Neurologic Diseases

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Array comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) is a technique used to analyze quantitative increase or decrease of chromosomes by competitive DNA hybridization of patients and controls. This study aimed to evaluate the benefits and yield of array-CGH in comparison with conventional karyotyping in pediatric neurology patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 87 patients from the pediatric neurology clinic with at least one of the following features developmental delay, mental retardation, dysmorphic face, or epilepsy. DNA extracted from patients and controls was hybridized on the Roche NimbleGen 135K oligonucleotide array and compared with G-band karyotyping. The results were analyzed with findings reported in recent publications and internet databases. RESULTS: Chromosome imbalances, including 9 cases detected also by G-band karyotyping, were found in 28 patients (32.2%), and at least 19 of them seemed to be causally related to the abnormal phenotypes. Regarding each clinical symptom, 26.2% of 42 developmental delay patients, 44.4% of 18 mental retardation patients, 42.9% of 28 dysmorphic face patients, and 34.6% of 26 epilepsy patients showed abnormal array results. CONCLUSION: Although there were relatively small number of tests in patients with pediatric neurologic disease, this study demonstrated that array-CGH is a very useful tool for clinical diagnosis of unknown genome abnormalities performed in pediatric neurology clinics.