Case report: first successful application of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for hereditary angiooedema

Hereditary angiooedema is an autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in the SERPING1 gene. It is characterized by oedemas in different parts of the body, being particularly dangerous when swelling involves the upper airway. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was performed in a couple where the woman carries a deletion of 2.9 Kb that includes exon 4 of the SERPING1 gene. Four polymorphic short tandem repeat markers were tested in order to establish the disease-bearing haplotype and three of them were fully informative. Amplification efficiency at the preclinical work up ranged from 71% to 100% for each locus and allele drop out rates were between 0% and 20% for the polymorphic markers. The couple underwent PGD using fluorescent multiplex heminested polymerase chain reaction. Six embryos were biopsied and five of them were diagnosed as healthy. Two embryos were transferred and a singleton pregnancy was achieved, resulting in the birth of a healthy boy.