An interstitial deletion of chromosome 7 at band q21: a case report and review

We report on a girl with moderate developmental delay and mild dysmorphic features. Cytogenetic investigations revealed a de novo interstitial deletion at the proximal dark band on the long arm of chromosome 7 (7q21.1-q21.3) in all analyzed G-banded metaphases of lymphocytes and fibroblasts. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and molecular studies defined the breakpoints at 7q21.11 and 7q21.3 on the paternal chromosome 7, with the proximal deletion breakpoint between the elastin gene (localized at 7q11.23) and D7S2517, and the distal breakpoint between D7S652 and the COL1A2 gene (localized at 7q21.3-q22.1). Deletions of interstitial segments at the proximal long arm of chromosome 7 at q21 are relatively rare. The karyotype-phenotype correlation of these patients is reviewed and discussed. The clinical findings of patients with a deletion at 7q21 significantly overlap with those of patients with maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (matUPD(7)) and Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS, OMIM 180860). Therefore, 7q21 might be considered a candidate chromosomal region for matUPD(7) and SRS.