[HOW SIMPLE IS "SIMPLE" GENETIC COUNSELING?].

Introduction: Genetic counselors are often compared with other medical professionals in terms of productivity, based on the number of patients seen and the time required for each patient. Prenatal genetic counseling before amniocentesis in uneventful pregnancies is considered to be a "simple" counseling, with potentially less time required for each patient. Thus, in some medical centers the duration of such consultations is limited to provide only the basic explanation without detailed collection of personal and family history, while in others the explanation is given to several patients together.

SMYD1 is the underlying gene for the AnWj-negative blood group phenotype.

Background: AnWj is a high-incidence blood group antigen associated with three clinical disorders: lymphoid malignancies, immunologic disorders, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic basis of an inherited AnWj-negative phenotype.

Methods: We identified a consanguineous family with two AnWj-negative siblings and 4 additional AnWj-negative individuals without known familial relationship to the index family.