Bernard-Soulier syndrome associated with 22q11.2 deletion and clinical features of DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome.

: Bernard-Soulier syndrome (BSS) is a rare autosomal recessive bleeding disorder caused by a defective function of glycoprotein (GP) Ib-V-IX complex. Among the genes encoding the 4 receptor subunits (GPIbα, GPIbβ, GPV and GPIX), the GPIbβ gene is located on chromosomes 22q11.2. We report a case of a girl with BSS associated with clinical features of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) with phenotypic spectrum of DiGeorge syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome. She has a history of life-long bleeding tendency, tetralogy of Fallot, hypothyroidism, mild facial dysmorphic signs and macrothrombocytopenia. The BBS and 22q11.2DS association could be explained by the fact that the constitutional hemizygosity of 22q11.2 may unmask an autosomal recessive disorder caused by alterations of the nondeleted GPIbβ allele. We suggest that all patients with 22q11.2DS and bleeding manifestations should be always tested for BSS.