12-yr-old girl suffers rare chromosome abnormality

A young girl in Baoji, Shaanxi province, who lacks a chromosome, is the first sufferer of this type of chromosome abnormality reported in the world, Xi'an Evening News reported on Tuesday.

According to Tang Kai, a doctor at the city's women's and children's hospital, the patient is a 12-year-old girl who is only 1.25 meters tall, the average height of an 8- to 9-year-old child. Doctors found the girl has one less chromosome than is normal, and said this had caused her to be shorter than average.

The National Laboratory of Medical Genetics at Central South University, Hunan province, confirmed the case is the first such reported in the world and added it to the national databank of abnormal cases.

Doctors are checking the girl's family members to see if others have the same chromosome abnormality.

Treatment of the young patient may last until the end of her puberty, in an effort to help her reach normal height as she grows.