I don’t understand what this definition really means. I know two types of microarrays: expression microarrays and genomic microarrays. CMA should refer to the second ones, but in my opinion the term is wrong as when we use a genomic microarray (CGH-array or SNP array) we don’t have information on the chromosomal constitution of the patient. We can find a microdeletion, a microduplication, or no imbalance, but in the first two cases we don’t know the chromosomal localization of the trait deleted or duplicated, in the third case the patient can have a balanced chromosomal rearrangement that we are not able to see with this technique. I should suggest the term “Genomic Micro Array” (GMA).

I would be happy to hear from you. Thanks!