Congenital Anomalies Flashcards
Classification of Birth Defects
Time at onset of the injury
Possible etiology
Pathogenesis
Tetraology
Study of abnormal development (causes, mechanisms, & patterns)
More than 20% of infant deaths in North America are due to birth defects!
6-7% Chromosomal Abnormalities 7-8% Mutant Genes 7-10% Environmental Agents 20-25% Multifactorial Inheritance 50-60% Unknown Etiology
Multifactorial Inheritance
Genetic and environmental factors together that cause congenital anomalies.
Two kinds of change that occurs in chromosomes
structural & numerical
What causes numerical chromosomal abnormalities?
Results from non- disjunction.
What is Non-disjunction?
An error in cell division during mitosis or meiosis. This is when there is failure of a chromosomal pair or two chromatids of a chromosome to separate.
What are the 4 clinically significant types of congenital anomalies?
malformation, disruption, deformation, & dysplasia
What is malformation?
Morphologic defect of an organ, part of an organ, or larger region of the body. Due to a defect of a morphogenetic or developmental field and results in complex or multiple malformations.
What is disruption?
A morphologic defect of an organ, part of an organ, or a larger region of the body, due to extrinsic breakdown or interference with an originally normal developmental process. It can not be inherited.
Extra: Teratogens are considered disruptions.
What is deformation?
An abnormal form, shape, or position of a part of the body that results from mechanical forces.
Example: Equinovarus foot resulting from oligohydramnios.
What is dysplasia?
An abnormal organization of cells into tissues and its morphologic results. It is the result of dys-histogenesis (abnormal tissue formation).
Example: Barrett’s Esophagus
What is a syndrome?
A group of anomalies occurring together that have a specific common cause.
This term indicates that a diagnosis has been made and that the risk of recurrence is known.
What is an association?
The non-random appearance of two or more anomalies that occur together more frequently than by chance alone, but the cause is still unknown.
What is the phenotype of children with Turner’s Syndrome?
Monosomy X female embryos, about 1 % of them survive. The phenotype of these children is female.
Extra: In 75% of cases the paternal X chromosome is the one that is missing.
What are the classic features of Turner’s Syndrome?
Short stature, webbed neck, absence of sexual maturation, broad shields like chest with widely spaced nipples, and lymphedema of the hands and feet.
What is the most common cause of abortions caused by chromosomal abnormalities?
Turner’s Syndrome
What is the cause of trisomy?
The cause is usually meiotic nondisjunction of chromosomes, resulting in a gamete with 24 instead of 23 chromosomes, and a zygote with 47 chromosomes.
What is the most common aneuploidy seen in older mothers?
Trisomy 21 aka Down syndrome
Extra: Errors in meiosis occurs with increasing maternal age. Down syndrome occurs once in every 25 births in mothers 45 & older.
Abortion rate for trisomic embryos
More than half spontaneously abort.
What happens to patients 30 years or older with Down Syndrome?
Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles and plaques.
Characteristics of Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome)
Growth retardation, clenched fists with characteristic positioning of the fingers, (second and fifth ones overlapping the third and fourth), short sternum, and narrow pelvis. These children also present ventricular septal defect, low set malformed ears, hypoplastic nails. They usually die early In infancy.
What is mosaicism?
2 or more cell types containing different numbers of chromosomes, normal and abnormal, leads to a less severe phenotype and the IQ of the child may be nearly normal.
Characteristics of Trisomy 13 or Patau Syndrome
Mental deficiency; severe central nervous system malformations; low set malformed ears, scalp defects, microphtalmia, bilateral cleft lip or palate, polydactyl. A small omphalocele or herniation of viscera into the umbilical cord is present.
When does Trisomy of sex chromosomes usually get detected?
puberty
What is the genotype for Klinefelter Syndrome?
47, XXY
What do 40% of individuals with Klinefelter Syndrome have?
40% of these males have gynecomastia
Characteristics of Klinefelter Syndrome?
small testes hyalinization of seminiferous tubules aspermatogenesis tall with disproportionately long lower limbs varicose veins arterial and venous leg ulcer scant body & pubic hair male hypogonadism sterility with fibrosus of seminiferous tubules marked decrease in testosterone levels elevated gonadotropin levels gynecomastia dull mentality antisocial behavior delayed speech as a child eunuchoid habitus
What causes structural chromosomal abnormalities?
Results from chromosome breakage, followed by reconstitution in an abnormal combination.
What may induce chromosome breakage?
Environmental factors, like drugs, chemicals, and viruses.
structural rearrangement?
The transfer of a piece of one chromosome to a nonhomologous chromosome.
reciprocal translocation
When two nonhomologous chromosomes exchange pieces.
Does translocation always cause abnormal development
Not necessarily, they can be phenotypically normal. They are balanced translocation carriers.
What causes Cri du Chat Syndrome?
A partial terminal deletion from the short arm of chromosome 5.
What are the characteristics of Cri du Chat Syndrome?
Affected infants have a weak catlike cry, microcephaly, severe mental deficiency and congenital heart disease.
How to detect Microdeletions and Microduplications of chromosomes?
High resolution of chromosome bandings
What causes Prader- Willi Syndrome (PWS)?
Deletion of a band in chromosome 15 of paternal origin.
Characteristics of Prader- Willi Syndrome (PWS)?
Short stature, mild mental retardation, obesity, hyperphagia, and hypogonadism (inadequate gonadal function).
What are the characteristics of Angelman Syndrome?
Severe mental retardation, microcephaly, brachycephaly (shortness of head), seizures, and ataxic (jerky) movements of the limbs and
trunk.
What two syndromes are associated with the deletion of band q12 on chromosome 15?
Both Prader- Willi and Angelman syndromes
What is genetic imprinting?
The differential expression of genetic material is dependent on the sex of the transmitting parent.
Example: The clinical phenotype is determined by the parental origin for both Prader- Willi and Angelman syndromes.
fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)
Chromosome specific DNA probes can adhere to complementary regions
located on specific chromosomes.
comparative genomic hybridization
Used to detect and map changes in specific regions of the genome.
What is Comparative genomic hybridization used for?
This method is used to identify genomic rearrangements in individuals with mental retardation of unknown cause.
Duplication
A duplicated part of a chromosome, within a chromosome, attached to a chromosome, or as a separate fragment. There is no loss of material, so phenotype may be normal. There may be mental retardation.
Inversion
A chromosomal aberration in which a segment of a chromosome is reversed.