What Is Turner Syndrome?

Does turner syndrome affect male fetuses? or it only affects females as per the net information ?

• Recently ma pregnancy was terminated at 17wks(male fetus) due to a mass cystic hygroma in the neck with other associated anomalies like dialated ventricle,fetal hydrops,generalised lymphedema,bilateral club feet,echogenic bowel,low amniotic fluid, pericardial effusion, and the sonographer suspects turner syndrome.why is it so yet i have read from the net that turner syndrome affects only female fetuses.should i just be optimistic that it is a one time diorder that wont occur again or will it reoccur if i try again? what are the chances? i need help im so confused and finding it hard to accept especially after this miscarriage.

• Answer:

  I'm sorry to hear about your recent misfortune. You may want to seek the advice of a genetic counsellor (contact your local hospital if your doctor can't recommend anyone). A male fetus with Turner syndrome could not survive to birth. If it formed at all, it would miscarry so early that the mother would likely never even realize she was pregnant. You have to have at least one functioning X chromosome to survive and males only have one to begin with. (Turner syndrome girls have only one X chromosome). Furthermore, Turner syndrome - although serious - isn't generally as bad as what you're describing. Sufferers tend to be short, infertile, and slightly retarded with varying degrees of poor social skills - but not the major organ disfunctions you describe. The one good thing about Turner, though, is that it's a chromosome assortment failure rather than a genetic one. Having one child with it doesn't predict future outcomes.