The 18 p- syndrome: report of one case.

Deletion of the short arm of chromosome 18 is more difficult to diagnose than most of other chromosomal abnormalities as the phenotypic picture is not specific enough to establish the diagnosis. Mental retardation, short stature, and hypertelorism were some of the prominent features of the syndrome. Some systemic diseases, such as congenital heart disease, hypothyroidism, IgA deficiency, were reported to be associated with this syndrome. We present a 14-month-old male baby with a round face, protruding tongue, hypertelorism, epicanthal folds, short stature, and psychomotor retardation to be a case of chromosome 18 p-. This was a de novo deletion and was not detected till the patient's second admission to our hospital. However, there was no other systemic disease could be found. The experience learned from this patient suggests that individuals with multiple congenital anomalies and psychomotor impairment, regardless of the severity, may warrant cytogenetic analysis.