Genetic counseling in perinatal medicine

Antenatal neurosurgical counseling: approach to the unborn patient

The detection and diagnosis of structural anomalies of the fetal central nervous system has become commonplace. Therefore, the pediatric neurosurgeon who will eventually care for a child postnatally can be called upon to interpret the meaning of diagnostic studies and advise the prospective parents prenatally. This article discusses some principals of prenatal counseling as they relate to neurosurgical conditions, reviews the diagnostic armamentarium for defining neurosurgical fetal conditions, and describes the common antenatal diagnoses that may be encountered by the neurosurgeon.

The chromosome: cytogenetic analysis and its clinical application

PURPOSE

Chromosomes are highly structured, dynamic complexes of DNA and protein. The human genome consists of 46 chromosomes (22 paired autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes). Cytogenetic analysis provides a means to identify, as well as describe, chromosomes and disorder-related aberrations. The purpose of this article is to 1) introduce chromosome structure and alterations, 2) describe the technical fundamentals of cytogenetic analysis, and 3) provide a brief overview of the clinical applications of this technology.

Juvenile Huntington's disease confirmed by genetic examination in twins

Early-onset Huntington's disease (HD) occurs in approximately 10% of HD's cases. We report juvenile HD in phenotypically identical twins, evaluated by history, clinical and neurologic examination, minimental state examination, blood laboratory exams, cerebrospinal fluid examination, skull computed tomography, and genetic examination for HD. Patients had the akinetic-rigid variety (Westphal variant) of the disease and paternal inheritance. The laboratory workup confirmed the clinical diagnosis of HD, which adds this report to the rare cases of HD in twins reported in the literature.