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Published 18 June 2009
Cite this as: BMJ Case Reports 2009 [doi:10.1136/bcr.05.2009.1911]
Copyright © 2009 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect

Autism, language delay and mental retardation in a patient with 7q11 duplication

C Depienne1,2,3, D Heron2, C Betancur4, B Benyahia2, O Trouillard2, D Bouteiller1, A Verloes5, E LeGuern1,2,3, M Leboyer4, A Brice1,2,3

1 INSERM U679 (formerly U289), Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
2 Département de Génétique, Cytogénétique et Embryologie, AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
3 Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI, Paris, France
4 INSERM U513, Université Paris XII, Créteil, France
5 Département de Génétique, Hôpital Robert Debré, AP-HP, Paris, France

Correspondence to:
A Brice, brice{at}ccr.jussieu.fr

SUMMARY

Chromosomal rearrangements are found in a subset of patients with autism. Duplications involving loci associated with behavioural disturbances constitute an especially good candidate mechanism. The Williams–Beuren critical region (WBCR), located at 7q11.23, is commonly deleted in Williams–Beuren microdeletion syndrome (WBS). However, only four patients with a duplication of the WBCR have been reported to date. Here, 206 patients with autism spectrum disorders were screened for the WBCR duplication by quantitative microsatellite analysis and multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification. One male patient with a de novo interstitial duplication of the entire WBCR of paternal origin was identified. The patient had autistic disorder, severe language delay and mental retardation, with mild dysmorphism. The present report concerns the first patient with autistic disorder and a WBCR duplication. This observation indicates that the 7q11.23 duplication could be involved in complex clinical phenotypes, ranging from developmental or language delay to mental retardation and autism.


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