# Case Report: An exploration of the neurodevelopmental phenotype of five patients with 48,XXYY during early childhood years

**Authors:** Margaret Olaya, Carole Samango-Sprouse, Debra Counts, Antonie D. Kline, Francie Mitchell, Elizabeth Buscema, Elizabeth Tipton, Teresa Sadeghin, Andrea L. Gropman

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1688851 · Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2025-12-18

## TL;DR

This case report explores the early childhood neurodevelopmental characteristics of five boys with 48,XXYY, highlighting common issues like hypotonia and speech delays.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the early childhood neurodevelopmental phenotype of 48,XXYY through a small case series.

## Key findings

- All five patients exhibited hypotonia and oral motor deficits from infancy.
- Four patients had increased head circumference by 7 months of age.
- Speech and motor delays were evident by 12 months, with no ASD signs before age 3.

## Abstract

48,XXYY is a sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) occurring in 1:18,000–50,000 male births, characterized by androgen deficiency in conjunction with hypogonadism, hypertelorism, clinodactyly, pes planus, radioulnar synostosis, increased height velocity, hypotonia, and a suspected increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The neurodevelopmental phenotype includes motor dysfunction, speech/language disturbance, and intellectual deficits.

This series will compare the neurodevelopmental profile of five patients with 48,XXYY during early childhood.

Five cases of male patients with 48,XXYY were followed beginning at the time of diagnosis. Each case underwent a combination of neurodevelopmental, oral motor, speech/language, physical therapy, medical genetics, and/or neurology evaluations.

In the five cases presented, there was an increased incidence of torticollis, with the right side more common. Abnormal muscle tonus was noted in all cases, characterized by hypotonia of the trunk, upper extremities, and oral motor musculature. Four of the patients exhibited an increased head circumference (≥ 79th percentile) by 7 months of age. All cases had speech/language and motor delays evident in the first 12 months of life and showed no signs of ASD prior to 3 years of age.

The presentation of 48,XXYY is varied, including oral motor deficits, hypotonia, positional and congenital muscular torticollis, respiratory issues, and inner-ear dysfunction. Early presentations of infantile developmental dyspraxia are evident by 18 months, specifically as discrepancies between fine and gross motor and expressive and receptive language skills. This series provides additional insight into the phenotypic presentation of male patients with 48,XXYY during infancy and early childhood and identifies common complications.

## Linked entities

- **Diseases:** autism spectrum disorder (MONDO:0005258), torticollis (MONDO:0008583), developmental dyspraxia (MONDO:0004922)

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** clinodactyly (MESH:C537090), SCA (MESH:D025064), intellectual deficits (MESH:C537761), hypertelorism (MESH:D006972), pes planus (MESH:D005413), developmental dyspraxia (MESH:D001072), ASD (MESH:D000067877), androgen deficiency (MESH:D014770), hypotonia (MESH:D009123), motor dysfunction (MESH:D000068079), inner-ear dysfunction (MESH:D007759), radioulnar synostosis (MESH:C562408), oral motor deficits (MESH:D009461), muscular torticollis (MESH:D014103), hypogonadism (MESH:D007006)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## References

41 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12756111/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12756111