AUTHOR=Ouyang Xuejun , Chi Dazhi , Zhang Yu , Yu Tian , Zhang Qian , Xu Lei , Zhang Victor Wei , Wang Bin 

TITLE=Application of rapid clinical exome sequencing technology in the diagnosis of critically ill pediatric patients with suspected genetic diseases

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2025.1526077

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2025.1526077

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=PurposeThis study evaluates the efficacy of rapid clinical exome sequencing (CES) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing for diagnosing genetic disorders in critically ill pediatric patients.MethodsA multi-centre investigation was conducted, enrolling critically ill pediatric patients suspected of having genetic disorders from March 2019 to December 2020. Peripheral blood samples from patients and their parents were analyzed using CES (proband-parent) and mtDNA sequencing (proband-mother) based on Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology.ResultsThe study included 44 pediatric patients (24 males, 20 females) with a median age of 27 days. The median turnaround time for genetic tests was 9.5 days. Genetic disorders were diagnosed in 25 patients (56.8%): 5 with chromosome microduplication/deletion syndromes (11.3%), 1 with UPD-related disease (2.3%), and 19 with monogenic diseases (43.2%). De novo variants were identified in nine patients (36.0%). A neonate was diagnosed with two genetic disorders due to a homozygous SLC25A20 variant and an MT-TL1 gene variation.ConclusionRapid genetic diagnosis is crucial for critically ill pediatric patients with suspected genetic disorders. CES and mtDNA sequencing offer precise and timely results, guiding treatment and reducing mortality and disability, making them suitable primary diagnostic tools.