NAA10 variant in 38-week-gestation male patient: a case study

Abstract

We present a male patient born at 38-wk gestation with rhizomelic shortening of extremities, hepatomegaly, ventriculomegaly, heart failure, severely depressed left ventricular function, biventricular hypertrophy, and biatrial enlargement. Additional physical findings included anteriorly displaced anus, vertebral anomalies, and brachydactyly. The patient's cardiac malformations led to persistent hypotension, sinus tachycardia, and multiorgan failure in the absence of arrhythmias. Rapid whole-exome sequencing was ordered on day of life (DOL) 8. The patient's family elected to withdraw supportive care, and he passed away that evening. Whole-exome sequencing returned posthumously and identified a variant in NAA10, E100K. The genotype–phenotype was closest to Ogden syndrome or amino-terminal acetyltransferase deficiency. Typical features of this rare X-linked syndrome include progeroid appearance, failure to thrive, developmental delays, hypotonia, and cardiac arrhythmias. Other family members were tested and the patient's mother, who has a history of mild intellectual disability, as well as a daughter born later, were identified as carriers. All carriers showed no cardiac findings. The carrier sister has manifested developmental delay and cortical atrophy. Protein modeling, evolution, dynamics, population variant assessments, and immunoprecipitation depict the deleterious nature of the variant on the interactions of NAA10 with NAA15. These findings had subsequent implications for posthumous diagnosis of the index patient, for female carriers, and regarding family planning. We highlight how these rapid genetic tests and variant characterization can potentially lead to informed decision-making between health-care providers and family members of patients with critical or lethal conditions when treatment options are limited.