Clinical utility of 24-h rapid trio-exome sequencing for critically ill infants

Genetic diseases are a leading cause of death in infants in the intensive care setting; therefore, rapid and accurate genetic diagnosis is desired. To validate 24-h trio-exome sequencing (TES), samples from probands and their parents were processed by the AmpliSeq /Ion S5XL platform in a hospital clinical laboratory. Infants from the intensive care unit (ICU) suspected of having a genetic disease were enrolled. Regular and 24-h TES using the Agilent SureSelect capture kit/Illumina platform were performed on all samples in parallel. Of 33 enrolled infants, 23 received positive results with rapid TES, and an additional two diagnoses were achieved with regular TES. Among the 23 diagnosed patients, 10 experienced changes in medical management, such as hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Ten diagnosed cases were discharged prior to receiving the regular TES results; six received timely symptom control, and four withdrew medical support. Rapid TES enabled faster time to diagnosis, which resulted in an overall decrease in length of hospital stay. The 24-h TES can serve as a rapid response tool for patients with suspected monogenic disorders and can guide clinical decision-making in urgent cases.