First trimester diagnosis of 13q-syndrome associated with increased fetal nuchal translucency thickness. Clinical findings and systematic review

13q-syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder caused by partial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 13 with variable phenotypic presentation. Further sonographic features involve fetal growth restriction, bradycardia, encephalocele, facial dysmorphism and upper extremity deformity. We report a case of 13q-syndrome presenting as increased nuchal translucency diagnosed by chromosome studies and confirmed by array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis in the first trimester of pregnancy. Pregnancy was terminated at 14 weeks' gestation. The parents did not give consent for a postmortem examination. Furthermore we performed a systematic review of the international literature on previous cases of 13q-syndrome diagnosed prenatally. Our case emphasizes the importance of a detailed 11-14 week ultrasound assessment in diagnosing fetal chromosomal aberrations in combination with the modern aspects of array CGH, thus providing more precise and rapid prenatal diagnosis.