{"title":"Significance of Variants of Uncertain Significance: The Human Cost of Genetic Uncertainty.","authors":"Damla Gonullu-Rotman","doi":"10.1002/ajmg.c.32109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This piece narrates the journey of Maria (name of the mother has been altered to protect the family's privacy), a new mother confronting her newborn's unexpected diagnosis of very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency, despite undergoing proactive genetic carrier screening within a consanguineous marriage. It highlights the emotional and systemic challenges arising from the lack of diversity in genetic databases, which, in this case, failed to detect pathogenic variants in Maria and her husband. Maria's story sheds light on situations where a masked variant of uncertain significance (VUS) necessitates consultation with a trained genetics specialist and underscores the urgent need for a more equitable healthcare system.</p>","PeriodicalId":7445,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics","volume":" ","pages":"e32109"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.c.32109","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GENETICS & HEREDITY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This piece narrates the journey of Maria (name of the mother has been altered to protect the family's privacy), a new mother confronting her newborn's unexpected diagnosis of very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency, despite undergoing proactive genetic carrier screening within a consanguineous marriage. It highlights the emotional and systemic challenges arising from the lack of diversity in genetic databases, which, in this case, failed to detect pathogenic variants in Maria and her husband. Maria's story sheds light on situations where a masked variant of uncertain significance (VUS) necessitates consultation with a trained genetics specialist and underscores the urgent need for a more equitable healthcare system.
期刊介绍:
Seminars in Medical Genetics, Part C of the American Journal of Medical Genetics (AJMG) , serves as both an educational resource and review forum, providing critical, in-depth retrospectives for students, practitioners, and associated professionals working in fields of human and medical genetics. Each issue is guest edited by a researcher in a featured area of genetics, offering a collection of thematic reviews from specialists around the world. Seminars in Medical Genetics publishes four times per year.