Chromosomal microarray analysis in developmental delay and intellectual disability with comorbid conditions

BACKGROUND: Developmental delay (DD) and intellectual disability (ID) are frequently associated with a broad spectrum of additional phenotypes. Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) has been recommended as a first-tier test for DD/ID in general, whereas the diagnostic yield differs significantly among DD/ID patients with different comorbid conditions. METHODS: To investigate the genotype-phenotype correlation, we examined the characteristics of identified pathogenic copy number variations (pCNVs) and compared the diagnostic yields among patient subgroups with different co-occurring conditions. RESULTS: This study is a retrospective review of CMA results generated from a mixed cohort of 710 Chinese patients with DD/ID. A total of 247 pCNVs were identified in 201 patients (28%). A large portion of these pCNVs were copy number losses, and the size of copy number losses was generally smaller than gains. The diagnostic yields were significantly higher in subgroups with co-occurring congenital heart defects (55%), facial dysmorphism (39%), microcephaly (34%) or hypotonia (35%), whereas co-occurring conditions of skeletal malformation (26%), brain malformation (24%) or epilepsy (24%) did not alter the yield. In addition, the diagnostic yield nominally correlated with ID severity. CONCLUSION: Varied yields exist in DD/ID patients with different phenotypic presentation. The presence of comorbid conditions can be among factors to consider when planning CMA. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12920-018-0368-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.