Uni-Parental Disomy (Chromosome 7)

  I have a two year old child that is FTT. After a recent consutation with a geneticist, this problem, Uni-Parental Disomy (Chromosome 7) was suggested. Could this cause drastic growth delays. He is currently well below the growth curve. He is 29 months old to the day, born at 37 weeks. His birth weight was 3# 7oz. He currently weighs in under 21 pounds and is tube fed.

Dear Erin :
thank you
Your question has two components :
1.  uniparental Disomy : Body cells receive their genetic information from both parents during the embryonic period . In order to correct a defect called monosomy ( one of the parental chromosomes-the carriers of genetic information,and each cell has two of them- does not participate in cell formation or is lacking), the monosomic gene duplicates , resulting in the genetic information  being all from one parent ( uniparental isodisomy) or a set of one or more genes on both chromosomes are of the same parental origin ( uniparental disomy).
2.  Chromosome 7 : is a pair of autosomal chromosomes that have in their genetic material specific information for the development of certain organ systems . In case of defects in chromosome 7 , there have been case reports of children with intrauterine growth retardation and short stature.
Your genetist , if suspecting this disorder , will recommend a chromosomal study for you and your child.

Disclaimer : this information is for educational purposes only .
Keywords : uniparental disomy*( genetics), chromosome 7*( genetics), intrauterine growth retardation*