Cri-du-Chat syndrome (CdCS), or 5p-minus syndrome, was first described by Lejeune et al in 1963, a French pediatrician and geneticist. The name refers to the main clinical feature of the syndrome, a characteristic cat-like cry in early childhood. The severity of further symptoms as microcephaly, mental retardation, delayed development, craniofacial manifestations, and other anomalies may vary strongly among individuals.
CdCS is a rather frequent microdeletion syndrome with an incidence of about 1:15.000 to 1:50.000 live births. The majority of patients carry a terminal deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5 with breakpoints ranging from 5p13 to 5p15.2 with a size of up to 40Mb. Most 5p deletions occur de novo, probably during spermatogenesis. Breakpoints are not well defined and differ between CdCS cases. Only a few patients have an interstitial deletion, translocations or other less common aberrations. Patient studies established a link between the size of the deleted region and the CdCS phenotype and identified regions 5p15.2 and 5p15.3 responsible for dysmorphism, mental retardation, and the cat-like cry.
Clinical Applications
- Microdeletion Syndrome (MicroDel)