CHARGE - from an association to the syndrome

CHARGE syndrome is an autosomal dominant syndrome with a high clinical variability. The disorder consists of coloboma, heart defects, atresia of the choanae, retarded growth and development, genital hypoplasia, and ear anomalies and deafness, often in combination with hypoplasia of the semicircular canal. CHARGE syndrome is common, with an estimated incidence of 1/10,000-15,000 new-borns. The underlying cause are mutations in the CHD7 gene. The CHD7 protein belongs to a group of conserved proteins that are thought to play an important role in chromatin organization and regulation of gene expression. The known mutations are spread all over the whole gene; therefore, mutational analyses of all coding sequences and exon/intron boundaries of the gene are necessary for molecular diagnostics, which would be helpful in situations of diagnostic uncertainty.