Case report
Clinical correlation between premature ovarian failure and a chromosomal anomaly in a 22-year-old Caucasian woman: a case report
1 Unit of Cytogenetic and Molecular Genetics, Madonna delle Grazie Hospital, Matera, 75100, Italy
2 Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, V. Fazzi Hospital, Lecce, Italy
3 Department of Biology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
4 Unit of Clinical Chemistry, Madonna delle Grazie Hospital, Matera, Italy
5 Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Santa Maria Hospital, Bari, Italy
6 Department of Ophthalmology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
7 S'Andrea Hosptital, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Journal of Medical Case Reports 2012, 6:368 doi:10.1186/1752-1947-6-368
Published: 29 October 2012Abstract
Introduction
Premature ovarian failure is defined as the cessation of ovarian activity before the age of 40 years. It is biochemically characterized by low levels of gonadal hormones (estrogens and inhibins) and high levels of gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone).
Case presentation
Our patient, a 22-year-old Caucasian woman under evaluation for infertility, had experienced secondary amenorrhea from the age of 18. No positive family history was noted regarding premature menopause. An examination of our patient’s karyotype showed the presence of a reciprocal translocation, apparently balanced, which had the X chromosome long arm (q13) and the 14 chromosome short arm (p12) with consequent karyotype: 46, X, t(X; 14)(q13;p12).
Conclusions
Our study has underlined that karyotyping is one of the fundamental investigations in the evaluation of amenorrhea. It highlighted a genetic etiology, in the form of a chromosomal abnormality, as the causal factor in amenorrhea.
