Erroneous genetic sex determination of a newborn twin girl due to chimerism caused by foetal blood transfusion. A case report.

OBJECTIVE

We present a case of erroneous sex determination in a newborn twin girl (twin A) due to chimerism.

CASE REPORT: Amniocentesis and ultrasound examination had pointed towards male sex of both twins. At birth, twin A presented as a phenotypically normal female with 46,XY karyotype, and 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis was suspected. Twin B was a normal male.

RESULTS

In our department, further examinations of twin A included undetectable testosterone and inhibin-B and elevated FSH. Ultrasound suspected an infantile uterus, and sequencing of the SRY gene was normal. After gonadectomy, a 46,XX karyotype was demonstrated in both normal infantile ovaries and in the fibroblasts from a skin biopsy. Analysis of X-linked markers in DNA from blood lymphocytes in both twins was identical, consistent with 46,XY karyotypes.

CONCLUSION

Twin A is a 46,XX female with a chimeric 46,XY blood cell line due to intrauterine transfusion from her twin brother.