Background: Monozygotic twins with 45,X/46,XY mosaicism, discordant for phenotypic sex, are extremely rare.
Methods: This report describes the clinical findings of a rare case of 45,X/46,XY mosaicism in monozygotic twins with different external genitalia. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis, performed by collecting DNA from each umbilical cord, showed identical SNPs in the autosomal chromosomes of both fetuses.
Results: Chorionic villus sampling of a 37-year-old primigravida carrying monozygotic twins revealed a 45,X/46,XY karyotype. Autopsy of the aborted fetuses revealed a penis and testes on one fetus and a vagina, uterus, and ovaries in the other fetus--which also had severe cystic hygroma. Cell counting using fluorescence in situ hybridization with XY probes (XY-FISH) showed 20% and 80% abundance of 45,X cells in the internal genitalia, liver, heart, lung, adrenal gland, bone marrow, and spine of the male and female fetuses, respectively.
Conclusion: These results indicated that the fetuses were genetically monozygotic twins and their different degrees of mosaicism may have resulted in different genital phenotypes.
Keywords: discordant sex; monozygotic twins; mosaicism; twin pregnancy.
© 2020 The Authors. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.