4q25 microdeletion encompassing PITX2: A patient presenting with tetralogy of Fallot and dental anomalies without ocular features

Eur J Med Genet. 2018 Feb;61(2):72-78. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmg.2017.10.018. Epub 2017 Oct 31.

Abstract

Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS) is a heterogeneous clinical entity transmitted in an autosomal dominant manner. The main feature, Axenfeld-Rieger Anomaly (ARA), is a malformation of the anterior segment of the eye that can lead to glaucoma and impair vision. Extra-ocular defects have also been reported. Point mutations of FOXC1 and PITX2 are responsible for about 40% of the ARS cases. We describe the phenotype of a patient carrying a deletion encompassing the 4q25 locus containing PITX2 gene. This child presented with a congenital heart defect (Tetralogy of Fallot, TOF) and no signs of ARA. He is the first patient described with TOF and a complete deletion of PITX2 (arr[GRCh37]4q25(110843057-112077858)x1, involving PITX2, EGF, ELOVL6 and ENPEP) inherited from his ARS affected mother. In addition, to our knowledge, he is the first patient reported with no ocular phenotype associated with haploinsufficiency of PITX2. We compare the phenotype and genotype of this patient to those of five other patients carrying 4q25 deletions. Two of these patients were enrolled in the university hospital in Toulouse, while the other three were already documented in DECIPHER. This comparative study suggests both an incomplete penetrance of the ocular malformation pattern in patients carrying PITX2 deletions and a putative association between TOF and PITX2 haploinsufficiency.

Keywords: 4q25; Axenfeld-rieger syndrome; Haploinsufficiency; PITX2; Tetralogy of fallot.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Acetyltransferases / genetics
  • Adult
  • Anterior Eye Segment / abnormalities*
  • Anterior Eye Segment / pathology
  • Child
  • Chromosome Deletion*
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 / genetics*
  • Epidermal Growth Factor / genetics
  • Eye Abnormalities / genetics*
  • Eye Abnormalities / pathology
  • Eye Diseases, Hereditary
  • Fatty Acid Elongases
  • Female
  • Glutamyl Aminopeptidase / genetics
  • Haploinsufficiency
  • Homeobox Protein PITX2
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pedigree
  • Phenotype
  • Tetralogy of Fallot / genetics*
  • Tetralogy of Fallot / pathology
  • Tooth Abnormalities / genetics*
  • Tooth Abnormalities / pathology
  • Transcription Factors / genetics

Substances

  • ELOVL6 protein, human
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • Epidermal Growth Factor
  • Acetyltransferases
  • Fatty Acid Elongases
  • ENPEP protein, human
  • Glutamyl Aminopeptidase

Supplementary concepts

  • Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome