Trisomy 2: Confined placental mosaicism in a fetus with intrauterine growth retardation

In a pregnancy that was monitored due to increased risk for Down syndrome in the triple test, a normal karyotype was found in amniocentesis. Follow-up by serial ultrasound examinations revealed intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) at 20 weeks of gestation. The parents decided to terminate the pregnancy and the karyotype of the placental fibroblasts was 47,XX,+2. Analysis of polymorphic markers of chromosome 2 demonstrated (a) that trisomy 2 was confined to the placenta (CPM), (b) that the trisomy 2 cell line was a result of a meiotic I error of paternal origin, and (c) that the fetal tissues with a normal karyotype were biparental disomy 2. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.