Recurrent early pregnancy loss and consanguinity in Omani couples.

Consanguinity is common in Arab countries. The Sultanate of Oman has a relatively small population with a high prevalence of consanguineous marriages. This is a retrospective study of women who had three or more consecutive miscarriages between January 2002 and December 2008, investigated in the non-pregnant state. Age, parity, menstrual history, number of miscarriages, personal and family history, history of consanguinity and investigations were collected for 141 patients. The mean number of miscarriages was 3.4; 53% of the women had a consanguineous marriage, 42% were non-consanguineous and in 5% the marital interrelationship was unknown. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of parental karyotype abnormalities, anticardiolipin antibodies, antinuclear antibodies, thyroid disorders, or lupus between the consanguineous and non-consanguineous couples. Consanguinity appeared not to play a significant role in the etiology of recurrent spontaneous miscarriage.

Complex t(8;13;21)(q22;q14;q22)--a novel variant of t(8;21) in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML-M2).

Variants of the t(8;21)(q22;q22) involving chromosome 8, 21, and other chromosomes account for about 3% of all t(8;21)(q22;q22) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. We report a case of AML-M2 with t(8;13;21)(q22;q14;q22), not reported earlier. Using a dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with ETO and AML1 probes, we demonstrate an ETO/AML1 fusion signal on the derivative chromosome 8. Whole chromosome painting probes were used for chromosomes 8 and 13, to demonstrate the three-way translocation t(8;13;21)(q22;q14;q22). Involvement of chromosome region 13q14 has never been reported earlier, although region 13q12 as a variant in AML with t(8;21) has been reported earlier. The possible role of genes in this region in leukemogenesis, its response to the treatment and its clinical implications are discussed.

Cytogenetic, morphological, and immunophenotypic patterns in Omani patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia.

Chromosome aberrations observed at diagnosis are considered to be the most valuable prognostic factors in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Some specific aberrations vary in frequency among different geographical areas and ethnic groups. There are only limited studies on the role of such variability in AML patients. Here, we report the results of a cytogenetic study on 63 ethnic Omani patients with de novo AML: 18 children (

Cytogenetic profile of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Oman.

BACKGROUND: Chromosomal abnormalities have important diagnostic and prognostic significance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The purpose of this study was to define and classify the frequency and type of chromosomal abnormalities among newly diagnosed children with ALL and compare the results with those reported from other geographical regions of the world. METHODS: Bone marrow chromosomal studies with GTG banding were performed in untreated ALL pediatric patients aged from 7 days to 14 years. RESULTS: Among Omani children examined with ALL, 47 (81%) patients yielded results, with 26 (55.3%) showing an abnormal karyotype [10 (21.3%) pseudodiploid, 2 (4.3%) hypodiploid and 14 (29.7%) hyperdiploidy] and 21 (44.6%) had normal diploidy. Structural abnormalities were observed in 16 (34%), of which 11 (23.4%) cases were translocations, the most frequent being t(9;22) observed in three (6.4%) of our patients. Uncommon translocations such as t(9;15)(p11;q10), t(3;6)(p12;q11), t(1;6)(?31;?q23), t(1;19)(q12;q12), der(18)t(12;18)(q11;p11), and other structural aberrations add(2)(q22), add(6)(q16), add(18)(q22), add(14)(q32) along with deletions del(10)(q22), del(12)(p11), del(12)(p12), del(18)(q11) were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed a good correlation and concordance between the ploidy distribution by cytogenetics and flow cytometry. The patterns of chromosomal anomalies in our patients showed some variations in the frequency of aberrations reported. It is therefore necessary that newer techniques like fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) along with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and spectral karyotyping will help us identify chromosomal aberrations not detected by conventional cytogenetic methods in the near future. To our knowledge, this is the first report from the Middle East of a cytogenetic study on childhood ALL.