We report tetraploid/diploid mosaicism in a boy and two girls detected by cultured skin fibroblasts. In all these children, interphase-FISH using DXZ1 probe confirmed the original karyotype. Tetraploid mosaicism was also confirmed by a-satellite probes from chromosomes 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17, 18 and Y in fibroblasts from the boy. The common features in these children are failure to thrive, slight mental deficiency and some degree of body asymmetry. The advantage of using interphase-FISH is the possibility of analysing a great number of cells in short time, thus giving a more precise percentage with regard to abnormal cells. (c) 2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.4814150