Maureen E. Sims

An exon 1 deletion in OTC identified using chromosomal microarray analysis in a mother and her two affected deceased newborns: implications for the prenatal diagnosis of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency.

We describe the outcome of two consecutive pregnancies with a clinical presentation of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency (OTCD) without a molecular diagnosis. A 119kb deletion on Xp11.4 including the OTC gene was detected in the mother. The same deletion was identified in the blood spots from deceased male newborns. In patients with a clinical and biochemical presentation of OTCD and negative OTC sequencing, whole genome or targeted chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) with coverage of the OTC and neighboring genes should be performed as a reflex test.