Novel ERCC2 variant in trichothiodystrophy infant: the first case report in China

BACKGROUND: Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) is a rare, autosomal recessive, multisystem disorder most commonly caused by variants in ERCC2. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we describe the first Chinese patient with a novel variant in ERCC2. A male infant, who was born to a healthy non-consanguineous couple, exhibited brittle hair, hair loss ichthyosis, eczema, retinal pigmentation and hypospadias. He carried a novel heterozygous ERCC2 variant. The maternal variant (c.2191-18_2213del) is a previous described genomic deletion that affects the splicing of intron 22. The paternal variant (c.1666-1G > A), that occurs in the splice site of intron 17 and likely alters ERCC2 gene function through aberrant splicing, has not been reported previously. CONCLUSIONS: Our case reported a novel pathogenic variant in ERCC2, which expanded the known genetic variants associated with TTD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-021-02585-4.