A terminal deletion of the short arm of chromosome 3: karyotype 46, XY, del (3) (p25-pter); a case report and literature review

We describe a boy with a deletion of the short arm of chromosome 3; (46, XY, del (3) (p25-pter) who presented several minor craniofacial anomalies at birth. Only 34 cases of small distal 3p deletion have been described in the literature, seven of them showed hearing loss and four of the 34 cases had brain anomalies. But in none of the 34 cases the middle and internal ear were radiographically examined. Despite the severe hearing loss detected by auditory brainstem evoked responses (ABR), computerized tomographic scanning (CT-scan) of the ear showed a normal anatomy in this patient. The head CT-scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed a hypoplastic corpus callosum and an enlargement of the lateral ventricles.