Can Turner syndrome be inherited?
Most cases of Turner syndrome are not inherited. When this condition results from monosomy X, the chromosomal abnormality occurs as a random event during the formation of reproductive cells (eggs and sperm). An error in cell division called nondisjunction can result in reproductive cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes. For example, an egg or sperm cell may lose a sex chromosome as a result of nondisjunction. If one of these atypical reproductive cells contributes to the genetic makeup of a child, the child will have a single X chromosome in each cell and will be missing the other sex chromosome. Mosaic Turner syndrome is also not inherited. It occurs as a random event during cell division in early fetal development. As a result, some of an affected person’s cells have the usual two sex chromosomes (either two X chromosomes or one X chromosome and one Y chromosome), and other cells have only one copy of the X chromosome. Other sex chromosome abnormalities are also possible in fe
