Maternal serum screening has gained widespread acceptance as a major prenatal screening tool for chromosomal abnormalities in the US and Europe since Merkatz et al described an association between low maternal serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels and increased risk for trisomy 21 in 1984. In 1988, Wald et al proposed a screening program based on maternal age in combination with three biochemica...

PROBLEM Inflammation during pregnancy has devastating consequences for the placenta and fetus. These events are incompletely understood, thereby hampering screening and treatment. METHOD OF STUDY The inflammatory profile of villous tissue was studied in pregnancies at high-risk of placental dysfunction and compared to uncomplicated pregnancies. The systemic inflammatory profile was assessed i...

Key content Fetal anaemia can be caused by alloimmune or infectious red cell destruction, disorders of fetal production, haemorrhage and as a complication monochorionic multifetal pregnancy. A fetus at risk from maternal alloimmunisation detected serum screening for antibodies ultrasonography. Undiagnosed cases may present in routine obstetric practice, so awareness the identification initial m...

The decision to have an amniocentesis entails a trade-off between a risk of procedure associated miscarriage and the benefit of obtaining diagnostic information to identify Down syndrome or other chromosomal aneuploidy. Ideally, this trade-off is informed by first and second trimester pre-natal screening tests, such that women with low risk screening test results are not encouraged to have an a...

BACKGROUND Increased second-trimester levels of maternal serum HCG in IVF conceptions lead to an increased false-positive rate in Down syndrome screening. Increased levels of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma have been correlated with increased HCG levels. Our aim was to determine whether cffDNA levels are elevated in IVF pregnancies compared with natural pregnancies. METHODS Si...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential value of adding maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) to free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) and PAPP-A and fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in first-trimester screening for trisomy 21. METHODS In this case control study, serum AFP was measured in 100 trisomy 21 and 1,500 euploid pregnancies in which screening for trisomy 21 had been per...

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the most effective approach screening of trisomy 21 in the first trimester in Vietnam Method: A prospective study carried out during 1 year. All pregnancies screened the risk of trisomy 21 by association of the fetal nuchal translucency, maternal age and biochemical serum (free β-hCG and PAPP-A) as a combined test in the first trimester. The amniocentesis was ...

BACKGROUND The acceptability of prenatal screening and diagnosis of Down syndrome is dependent, in part, on the gestational age at which the testing is offered. First trimester screening could be advantageous if it has sufficient efficacy and can be effectively delivered. ISSUES Two first trimester maternal serum screening markers, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and free beta-...

CONTEXT Maternal serum human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and Alpha Fetal Protein (AFP) were originally introduced to detect trisomy 21 and neural tube defects. However, in the absence of aneuploidy or neural tube defects, mid-trimester maternal serum hCG and/or maternal serum AFP associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Pregnancies with unexplained mid-trimester elevation in maternal serum ...

amniocentesis is a known and accessible method for prenatal diagnosis. it is performed after the 15th week of gestation. in this method, about 20 ml of the amniotic fluid is aspirated and evaluated for biochemical tests, culture of amniocytes for karyotype, dna analysis and linkage tests based on indication. the objective of this study was to determine the indications, results and complications...