Analysis of trio test in neurodevelopmental disorders

BACKGROUND: Trio test has been widely used for diagnosis of various hereditary disorders. We aimed to investigate the contribution of trio test in genetically diagnosing neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 2,059 NDD cases with genetic test results. The trio test was conducted in 563 cases. Clinical usefulness, optimal timing, and methods for the trio test were reviewed. RESULTS: Pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were detected in 112 of 563 (19.9%) patients who underwent the trio test. With trio test results, the overall diagnostic yield increased by 5.4% (112/2,059). Of 165 de novo variants detected, 149 were pathogenic and we detected 85 novel pathogenic variants. Pathogenic, de novo variants were frequently detected in CDKL5, ATP1A3, and STXBP1. CONCLUSION: The trio test is an efficient method for genetically diagnosing NDD. We identified specific situations where a certain trio test is more appropriate, thereby providing a guide for clinicians when confronted with variants of unknown significance of specific genes.