Prenatal diagnosis of de novo DMD duplication by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) after noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) at 11 gestational weeks.

OBJECTIVE: Dystrophinopathy is an X-linked recessive muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the DMD gene. Herein we describe the prenatal detection of DMD gene mutations in a patient with no family history, by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) after noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS).

CASE REPORT: A 41-year-old woman underwent NIPS owing to an advanced maternal age. A copy number variation was detected in the maternal X chromosome, and uninformative results were obtained for the fetal sex chromosomes. Following amniocentesis, a duplication was identified in exons 1-29 of the dystrophin gene by MLPA. After interviewing her family members it was confirmed that the patient is a de novo carrier of DMD duplications, and her daughter is a carrier of the same mutation.

CONCLUSION: his is the first case report to describe the prenatal diagnosis of duplications in the DMD gene by MLPA following NIPS in a patient with no family history.