Objective aneuploidy detection for fetal and neonatal screening using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) allows entire genomes to be scanned for whole and segmental aneuploidy and thus may be an appropriate tool for the detection of clinically important abnormalities during fetal and neonatal screening. Criteria to distinguish between significant aberrations and experimental artifacts are essential for these applications. This report describes the use of a t-statistic to detect changes in CGH profiles that differ significantly from variations that occur in CGH profiles of normal samples. Eleven cell lines derived from fetal or neonatal patients were analyzed in this study. Aneuploidies in these lines included trisomies for chromosomes 13, 16, 18, and 21 and monosomy for distal 5p and tetrasomy 18p. Aneuploidy was detected in all samples by using the t-statistic, although the extent of the aneuploid region was not correctly estimated in some cases. A detailed description of the t-statistic fused for making these CGH comparisons is described in a companion paper (Moore et al., Cytometry 28:183-190, 1997.