Chorionic villus sampling--short-term versus long-term culture in a subtle 2; 18 translocation

Prenatal diagnosis on chorionic villous tissue was performed for a woman with the karyotype 46,XX,t(2;18)(q32;q12)--a subtle 'difficult' translocation. The case illustrates the necessity of good quality cytogenetics for accurate prenatal diagnosis. For chorionic villi this can be obtained only with long-term culture.