Cohen syndrome in a child caused by compound heterozygous variants in VPS13B gene

Xin MEI, Xiao-Liang HE, Wei-Na GAO, Meng-Yao WANG, Jing-Wen SHEN, Jing WEI, Yun XUE

Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ›› 2025, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (6) : 740-745.

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Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ›› 2025, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (6) : 740-745. DOI: 10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2412119
CASE REPORT

Cohen syndrome in a child caused by compound heterozygous variants in VPS13B gene

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Abstract

A 7-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with rapidly progressive vision loss. Since 1 year of age, she had exhibited developmental delay accompanied by visual impairment and neutropenia. Combined with genetic testing and molecular pathogenicity analysis, she was diagnosed with Cohen syndrome (CS) caused by compound heterozygous variants in VPS13B (c.6940+1G>T and c.2911C>T). The c.6940+1G>T variant resulted in exon 38 skipping, leading to a frameshift and premature termination. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed significantly reduced VPS13B gene expression (P<0.05). Bioinformatic analysis suggested that both variants likely produce truncated proteins. This case highlights that integrating clinical features with molecular pathogenicity assessment (DNA, RNA, and protein analysis) can improve early diagnostic accuracy for CS.

Key words

Cohen syndrome / VPS13B gene / Phenotype / Genotype / Child

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Xin MEI , Xiao-Liang HE , Wei-Na GAO , et al . Cohen syndrome in a child caused by compound heterozygous variants in VPS13B gene[J]. Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics. 2025, 27(6): 740-745 https://doi.org/10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2412119

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梅鑫和高伟娜负责文章撰写;王梦瑶和申静雯负责实验及数据分析;魏菁负责临床病例收集及检查;薛云和贺孝良提供了指导性的贡献。

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