A novel 19.98-Mb duplication in chromosome Xp22.33p22.12 was detected by array CGH in a 30-year-old man affected by intellectual disability, congenital hypotonia and dysmorphic features. The duplication encompasses more than 100 known genes. Many of these genes (such as neuroligin 4, cyclin-dependent kinase like 5, and others) have already correlated with X-linked intellectual disability and/or neurodevelopmental disorders. Due to the high number of potentially pathogenic genes involved in the reported duplication, we cannot correlate the clinical phenotype to a single gene. Indeed, we suggest that the resulting clinical phenotype may have arisen from the overexpression and consequent perturbation of fine gene dosage.
Keywords: Duplication Xp22.33p22.12; Dysmorphic facial features; Intellectual disability.