A de novo microdeletion in a patient with inner ear abnormalities suggests that the 10q26.13 region contains the responsible gene.

Microdeletions in the 10q26.1 region are related to intellectual disability, growth delay, microcephaly, distinctive craniofacial features, cardiac defects, genital abnormalities and inner ear abnormalities. The genes responsible for inner ear abnormalities have been narrowed to fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 gene (FGFR2), H6 family homeobox 2 gene (HMX2) and H6 family homeobox 3 gene (HMX3). An additional patient with distinctive craniofacial features, congenital deafness and balance dysfunctions showed a de novo microdeletion of 10q26.11q26.13, indicating the existence of a gene responsible for inner ear abnormalities in this region.