AUTISTIC SYMPTOMS AMONG CHILDREN AND YOUNG-ADULTS WITH ISODICENTRIC CHROMOSOME-15

A standardized assessment of autistic symptomatology was completed for 29 children and young adults with a supernumerary isodicentric chromo some 15 (formerly known as inverted duplication 15). Although there wa s variability in severity, 20 individuals with an isodicentric chromos ome 15 [idic(15)] had a high probability of being autistic. Eight of t he 9 remaining children were under age 5 years and were more sociable than the rest of the cohort. Group characteristics such as gender and seizure presence could not explain the observed difference between old er and younger individuals in our study. The natural history of isodic entric 15 syndrome remains to be shown through longitudinal work and m ay include an age-related risk for developing autism. (C) 1998 Wiley-L iss, Inc.