Language

English

Publication Date

11-1-2024

Journal

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics

DOI

10.1002/ajmg.c.32117

PMID

39428697

PMCID

PMC12619969

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-17-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

An infant presents in extremis. After the medical team stabilizes him, the race is on to figure out why he got so sick in the first place. The consulting genetics team thinks that it is unlikely his problems are due to a genetic cause, but his extreme, confounding presentation is enough to justify trio exome sequencing. When the results reveal an unexpected, paternally inherited variant of uncertain significance (VUS) in NOTCH3, fresh questions arise. The infant's presenting symptoms and descriptive diagnoses, including hematemesis, epistaxis, and gastric ulcers, certainly do not fit the mold of CADASIL. However, closer inspection of his family history yields tantalizing clues: a father and paternal grandfather with seizures, and a paternal grandfather with unexplained mood disturbances in middle age. Combining details gleaned from the family history and medical literature, the clinical genetics and laboratory genetics team collaborated, reclassified the VUS as likely pathogenic, and offered a new unifying diagnosis to explain much of the family's lore.

Keywords

Humans, CADASIL, Male, Receptor, Notch3, Pedigree, Infant, Exome Sequencing, Mutation, Adult, CADASIL, cerebrovascular disorders, family history, genetic diseases, inborn

Published Open-Access

yes

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