Uniparental disomy (UPD) describes a condition in which both homologs of a chromosome pair are derived from the same parent.  UPD can be associated with phenotypic abnormalities if:

  • the chromosome or chromosome segment involved carries genes that are imprinted.  Genomic imprinting refers to the differential expression of alleles as determined by the parental origin of the allele.
  • homozygosity due to uniparental isodisomy results in the expression of an autosomal recessive condition from a single carrier parent.

UPD7mat has been associated with pre- and postnatal growth retardation and Russell-Silver syndrome.  We offer UPD testing of chromosome 7 by microsatellite analysis, which compares microsatellite markers from both parents and the child or fetus. In order for UPD to be determined, a significant number of informative microsatellite markers must be present. Although testing is possible if only one parent is available, the chance of obtaining a sufficient number of informative markers is decreased.

Prenatal UPD studies are appropriate following the detection of a mosaic trisomy or a marker chromosome in a prenatal sample.  UPD analysis is also considered when a prenatal test is performed to rule out the possibility that the fetus has inherited an unbalanced translocation from a parent carrying a balanced rearrangement and for pregnancies affected with a de novo translocation. 

TAT 
2 - 4 weeks
CPT Code 
81402
Test Code 
1300
Test Methods 
Microsatellite analysis
Specimen Types Accepted 
Blood
Saliva
Cultured Cells
Extracted DNA
Additional Information 
The cost for prenatal UPD is $740