Molecular genetic analysis reveals atypical confined placental mosaicism with a small supernumerary marker chromosome derived from chromosome 18: A clinical report of discordant results from three prenatal tests

Abstract

We present a case with discordant results in three prenatal screening methods, with additional genetic analyses. Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) was performed on a 41-year-old Japanese woman at 10 weeks of gestation, and the result was positive for trisomy 18 with high accuracy. Amniocentesis was performed at 16 weeks of gestation. However, the result showed 47,XX,+mar[16]/47,XX,+18[2]. Fetal examination by ultrasound revealed no malformations. After termination of the pregnancy, we performed additional genetic analyses, and confirmed the presence of confined placental mosaicism (CPM). Furthermore, a small supernumerary marker chromosome (sSMC) was detected in fetal cells, which was derived de novo from the centromere of chromosome 18. Single nucleotide polymorphism array analysis revealed that fetal chromosome 18 was inherited with maternal uniparental disomy, with a relatively large copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, including its centromere. Our genetic analyses strongly indicated the cause of result discrepancy in prenatal testing as incomplete trisomy 18 rescue leading to atypical CPM with a sSMC. These findings also offer insight into the mechanisms by which chromosomal aberrations form during human oogenesis and embryogenesis.