Thursday, June 13, 2013

Prenatal Screening for Down's Syndrome


Everything Is About To Change

First Trimester screening presently involves combining an ultrasound with a blood test for biochemical markers. Now a new test, involving fetal cell free DNA in mom's circulation, may supplant or modify present practice.

...An Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology study by Kypros Nicolaides, MD, of the Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine at King's College London in England, and his colleagues is the first to prospectively demonstrate the feasibility of routine screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 by cfDNA testing. Testing done in 1005 pregnancies at 10 weeks had a lower false positive rate and higher sensitivity for fetal trisomy than the combined test done at 12 weeks. 

Stay tuned.

No comments:

Post a Comment