Metaphase acrocentric associations in metally retarded patients.

OBJECTIVE The metaphase of 21 severely mentally retarded patients were studies to assess the role of satellite association in the etiology of mental retardation. METHODS Peripheral blood culture, chromosome harvesting and study scoring were conducted according to standard methods. RESULTS Considered as a whole the results indicate that there is a significant increase in the frequency of satellite association among the mentally retarded. CONCLUSION The present study concluded that satellite association may play a role in the etiology of mental retardation and may explain to some extent the presence of normal karyotype in some mental retardation patients.