Language

English

Publication Date

7-1-2024

Journal

Clinical Genetics

DOI

10.1111/cge.14522

PMID

38545656

PMCID

PMC11147704

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

7-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) occurs in up to 7 out of 1000 births and accounts for almost a quarter of neonatal deaths worldwide. Despite the name, many newborns with HIE have little evidence of perinatal hypoxia. We hypothesized that some infants with HIE have genetic disorders that resemble encephalopathy. We reviewed genetic results for newborns with HIE undergoing exome or genome sequencing at a clinical laboratory (2014-2022). Neonates were included if they had a diagnosis of HIE and were delivered ≥35 weeks. Neonates were excluded for cardiopulmonary pathology resulting in hypoxemia or if neuroimaging suggested postnatal hypoxic-ischemic injury. Of 24 patients meeting inclusion criteria, six (25%) were diagnosed with a genetic condition. Four neonates had variants at loci linked to conditions with phenotypic features resembling HIE, including KIF1A, GBE1, ACTA1, and a 15q13.3 deletion. Two additional neonates had variants in genes not previously associated with encephalopathy, including DUOX2 and PTPN11. Of the six neonates with a molecular diagnosis, two had isolated HIE without apparent comorbidities to suggest a genetic disorder. Genetic diagnoses were identified among neonates with and without sentinel labor events, abnormal umbilical cord gasses, and low Apgar scores. These results suggest that genetic evaluation is clinically relevant for patients with perinatal HIE.

Keywords

Humans, Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain, Infant, Newborn, Female, Male, Exome Sequencing, Retrospective Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Exome, Genetic Diseases, Inborn, Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, Neonatal encephalopathy, Genetic encephalopathy, Exome sequencing, HIE

Published Open-Access

yes

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