A complex submicroscopic chromosomal imbalance in 19p13.11 with one microduplication and two microtriplications

Complex chromosomal rearrangements [CCRs] are considered very rare, but are being detected with an increasing frequency because of the enhanced resolution of novel molecular karyotyping techniques like array-CGH. This report describes a patient carrying a unique CCR involving one duplication and two triplications in a 3.2 Mb region on 19p13.11. The patient presented with microcephaly, velopharyngeal insufficiency, dysmorphism, mental retardation and a muscular ventricular septal defect. We show that CCRs are likely to be more frequent than hitherto appreciated. This has important consequences for genotype-phenotype correlations and warrants caution before labelling imbalances as "simple".