We describe a newborn with a novel interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 17 [del (17) (q23.2q24.3)] who died on day of life 17 during a recurrent apneic episode. Her phenotype included severe growth retardation, multiple facial anomalies, maldeveloped oralpharyngeal structures, and digital and widespread skeletal anomalies. This patient's phenotype was compared to two other reported patients with deletion 17q with minor clinical overlap consistent with a unique deletion.