Maternal translocation (9;18) with two abnormal offspring each with different chromosome derivatives

We report a phenotypically normal woman with an apparently balanced reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 18 [46,XX,t(9;18)(p22;p11.2)], giving rise to unbalanced chromosome complements in two of her children, each of whom received a different derivative chromosome. The proband's karyotype is 46,XY,-18,+der(18), t(9;18)(p22;p11.2)mat, which results in a duplication of the distal portion of the short arm of chromosome 9 with a concomitant deletion of much of the short arm of chromosome 18. The karyotype of the proband's brother is 46, XY,-9,+der(9),t(9;18)(p22;p11.2)mat, which results in a deletion of the distal short arm of chromosome 9 and a duplication of most of the short arm of chromosome 18. The phenotype of each child is significantly different from that of his sib and is not consistent with any previously reported chromosome abnormality.