Card kit

Invitae Fabry Disease Test

Test code: 02266

Test description

This test analyzes α-galactosidase (GLA), the only known gene associated with Fabry disease. Testing should be considered for any individual with a clinical diagnosis of Fabry disease, a suspected clinical diagnosis of Fabry disease, or a family history of Fabry disease. On average, five family members are diagnosed with Fabry disease for every proband identified.

Molecular analysis of GLA is the only reliable way of diagnosing heterozygous females. Enzymatic studies of α-galactosidase in females who are obligate carriers or manifesting heterozygotes are often inconclusive due to X-inactivation. Heterozygous females may have α-galactosidase levels within the normal range.

Disorders tested

Ordering information

Turnaround time:

10–21 calendar days (14 days on average)

New York approved:

Yes

Preferred specimen:

3mL whole blood in a purple-top EDTA tube (K2EDTA or K3EDTA)

Alternate specimens:

Saliva, buccal swab, and gDNA are also accepted.
Learn more about specimen requirementsRequest a specimen collection kit

Clinical description and sensitivity

Clinical description:

Fabry disease is a rare, complex lysosomal storage disease with multisystemic involvement due to the progressive accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (GL-3) in the vascular endothelium. There is a phenotypic spectrum ranging from the severe, classic phenotype, to an attenuated phenotype, to atypical cardiac or renal variants.

Clinical subtypes:

Heterozygous females—Females heterozygous for a GLA pathogenic variant may remain clinically asymptomatic, present with an attenuated form of the disease, or manifest the full clinical spectrum of symptoms observed in males with classic Fabry disease.

Cardiac variant—This phenotype generally presents in males with greater than 1% enzymatic activity. Cardiomyopathy develops in the sixth to eighth decade of life and is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertrophy of the interventricular septum, mitral valve insufficiency, and/or conduction abnormalities. Proteinuria may also be a feature, but end stage renal disease is typically absent.

Renal variant—This variant presents in males with greater than 1% enzymatic activity and has been diagnosed in Japanese patients with end stage renal disease and a prior diagnosis of chronic glomerulonephritis. Other symptoms of classic Fabry disease are generally absent, although moderate-to-severe left ventricular hypertrophy acroparesthesias and hypohidrosis have also been reported with the cardiac variant.

Symptoms include:

  • periodic severe pain crises in the extremities (acroparesthesias)
  • vascular cutaneous lesions (angiokeratomas), typically in the bathing-suit area
  • sweating abnormalities (anhidrosis, hypohidrosis, and rarely hyperhidrosis)
  • exercise, heat, or cold intolerance
  • characteristic corneal and lenticular opacities (corneal whorls), observed by slit lamp examination
  • unexplained stroke (thrombosis, transient ischemic attacks [TIA], basilar artery ischemia and aneurysm, seizures, hemiplegia, hemianesthesia, aphasia, labyrinthine disorders, frank cerebral hemorrhage)
  • cardiac disease (including mitral insufficiency, left ventricular enlargement, valvular involvement, and/or conduction involvement)
  • renal insufficiency
  • GI disturbances (episodic diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, abdominal pain, and/or intestinal malabsorption)

The classic phenotype in hemizygous males is the most commonly reported. Symptom onset generally occurs in childhood or adolescence, with the median reported age of 6 years in males and 9 years in females. The first detectable symptoms are usually acroparesthesias, angiokeratomas, hypohidrosis, and/or ocular findings. Cardiac and cerebrovascular disease is usually evident by middle age. Chronic kidney disease is present by the third decade of life and progresses to end stage renal disease (ESRD) by the fifth decade of life unless treated by chronic hemodialysis or renal transplant. Untreated Fabry disease causes a significantly reduced lifespan; the major causes of morbidity and mortality are renal failure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Heterozygous females may remain asymptomatic with a normal lifespan, have an attenuated form of the disease, or manifest all features of the severe, classic disease. Milder, non-classical variants include a cardiac form that has isolated cardiac symptoms developing in both males and females during sixth to eighth decade of life, and a renal form that leads to end stage renal disease occurring in the same time frame as males with the classic form of the disease. Symptoms such as milder left ventricular hypertrophy, acroparesthesias, and hypohidrosis have also been reported in cases with the renal variant.

Clinical description and sensitivity

Assay information

Invitae is a College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified clinical diagnostic laboratory performing full-gene sequencing and deletion/duplication analysis using next-generation sequencing technology (NGS).

Our sequence analysis covers clinically important regions of each gene, including coding exons and 10 to 20 base pairs of adjacent intronic sequence on either side of the coding exons in the transcript listed below, depending on the specific gene or test. In addition, the analysis covers select non-coding variants. Any variants that fall outside these regions are not analyzed. Any limitations in the analysis of these genes will be listed on the report. Contact client services with any questions.

Based on validation study results, this assay achieves >99% analytical sensitivity and specificity for single nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions <15bp in length, and exon-level deletions and duplications. Invitae's methods also detect insertions and deletions larger than 15bp but smaller than a full exon but sensitivity for these may be marginally reduced. Invitae’s deletion/duplication analysis determines copy number at a single exon resolution at virtually all targeted exons. However, in rare situations, single-exon copy number events may not be analyzed due to inherent sequence properties or isolated reduction in data quality. Certain types of variants, such as structural rearrangements (e.g. inversions, gene conversion events, translocations, etc.) or variants embedded in sequence with complex architecture (e.g. short tandem repeats or segmental duplications), may not be detected. Additionally, it may not be possible to fully resolve certain details about variants, such as mosaicism, phasing, or mapping ambiguity. Unless explicitly guaranteed, sequence changes in the promoter, non-coding exons, and other non-coding regions are not covered by this assay. Please consult the test definition on our website for details regarding regions or types of variants that are covered or excluded for this test. This report reflects the analysis of an extracted genomic DNA sample. In very rare cases, (circulating hematolymphoid neoplasm, bone marrow transplant, recent blood transfusion) the analyzed DNA may not represent the patient's constitutional genome.

Assay information

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Primary panel

1 gene selected
GLA

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