Alternative transcripts in variant interpretation: the potential for missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses

Purpose Guidelines by professional organizations for assessing variant pathogenicity include the recommendation to utilize biologically relevant transcripts; however, there is variability in transcript selection by laboratories. Methods We describe three patients whose genomic results were incorrect, because alternative transcripts and tissue expression patterns were not considered by the commercial laboratories. Results In individual 1, a pathogenic coding variant in a brain-expressed isoform of CKDL5 was missed twice on sequencing, because the variant was intronic in the transcripts considered in analysis. In individual 2, a microdeletion affecting KMT2C was not reported on microarray, since deletions of proximal exons in this gene are seen in healthy individuals; however, this individual had a more distal deletion involving the brain-expressed KMT2C isoform, giving her a diagnosis of Kleefstra syndrome. Individual 3 was reported to have a pathogenic variant in exon 10 of OFD1 on exome, but had no typical features of the OFD1 -related disorders. Since exon 10 is spliced from the more biologically relevant transcripts of OFD1 , it was determined that he did not have an OFD1 disorder. Conclusion These examples illustrate the importance of considering alternative transcripts as a potential confounder when genetic results are negative or discordant with the phenotype.