CHARGE syndrome: diagnosis and clinical management in the NICU

CHARGE syndrome is a condition that has historically been diagnosed on the basis of the clinical findings of coloboma, heart disease, choanal atresia, restricted growth, and/or central nervous system anomalies, genital hypoplasia, and ear anomalies and/or deafness. Recently, researchers have discovered a genetic link, specifically, a strong association between the CHARGE phenotype and a mutation of the CHD 7 gene on the long arm of chromosome 8. Diagnosis now can be confirmed but not excluded with a positive mutation of this gene. This article offers an explanation of the diagnostic process as well as a description of the physical assessment and corresponding clinical implications of CHARGE syndrome in the neonatal population.