Turner syndrome

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Turner syndrome

Definition

Turner syndrome is a genetic condition in which a female does not have the usual pair of two X chromosomes.

Alternative Names

Bonnevie-Ullrich syndrome; Gonadal dysgenesis; Monosomy X

Causes

Humans have 46 chromosomes. Chromosomes contain all of your genes and DNA, the building blocks of the body. Two of these chromosomes, the sex chromosomes, determine if you become a boy or a girl. Females normally have two of the same sex chromosomes, written as XX. Males have an X and a Y chromosome (written as XY).

In Turner syndrome, cells are missing all or part of an X chromosome. The condition only occurs in females. Most commonly, the female patient has only one X chromosome. Others may have two X chromosomes, but one of them is incomplete. Sometimes, a female has some cells with two X chromosomes, but other cells have only one.

Turner syndrome occurs in about 1 out of 2,000 live births.

Review Date: 9/26/2007
Reviewed By: Deirdre O’Reilly, MD, MPH, Neonatologist, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Previously reviewed by Brian Kirmse, MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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