Trisomy 22

The existence of a trisomy 22 has been definitely established by newer methods of karyotype analysis which permit distinction between the acrocentric chromosomes of group G. Trisomy 22 is much rarer than trisomy 21. This report presents presumptive evidence that the cat eye syndrome (CES), the so-called "trisomy 22" (T22), the intermediate cases (IM) with cardinal symptoms of CES and T22, and some cases of mental retardation with rather unspecific symptoms are variants of the same disease entity. For T22, CES and one abortive case the extra chromosome was clearly identified as number 22 chromosome with or without partial deletion of the long arm. An interesting and presently not fully understood feature of trisomy 22 is its frequent familial incidence.