Chromosomal and biochemical screening on mentally retarded school children in Taiwan

Governmental officials as well as medical scientists in Taiwan have worked hard in recent years to develop and to implement various measures, such as prenatal diagnosis and neonatal screening, to lower the incidence of hereditary diseases and mental retardation in the population. An inquiry into the possibility of devising a chromosomal and biochemical screening program and to apply it routinely to all the mentally retarded school children island-wide was the major aim of the present study. A collection of 1,614 blood samples was screened for phenylketonuria (PKU), galactosemia, homocystinuria, biotinidase deficiency, and congenital hypothyroidism. The IQ of these children ranged from 50-75 (1,397 children, moderate group) to less than 50 (217 children, severe group). Six cases of PKU (one tetrahydrobiopterin deficient and five classical) and three cases of thyroid dysfunction were found. The overall incidence of these two diseases was 0.56%. Of the 1,614 blood samples, 1,323 were cultured and karyotyped successfully. One hundred and twenty-five of them had chromosome abnormalities. The majority (64 out of 125) were trisomy 21. A remarkable difference in the percentage of mentally retarded children with chromosome abnormalities was observed between the moderate (7.87%) and severe (17.51%) retarded.