Background: Recently a locus for antenatal Bartter syndrome associated with sensorineural deafness was mapped to human chromosome 1p31 in a single consanguineous Bedouin family (Brennan et al. Am J Hum Genet 1998; 62: 355-361).
Methods: By haplotype analysis we demonstrate linkage to this locus in nine consanguineous families with antenatal Bartter syndrome associated with sensorineural deafness.
Results: The critical interval compatible with linkage was refined to 4.0 cM by two novel recombinational events with markers D1S2661 and D1S475.
Conclusion: We thereby confirmed this gene locus and distinguished this clinical subtype from other variants of Bartter syndrome as a new disease entity.