Objective Maternal-fetal RhD antigen incompatibility causes approximately 50% of clinically significant alloimmunization cases. The routine use of prophylactic anti-D immunoglobulin has dramatically reduced hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. Recently, fetal RHD genotyping in RhD negative pregnant women has been suggested for appropriate use of anti-D immunoglobulin antenatal prophylaxi...

variations in detection sensitivity and quantification of fetal DNA concentrations were noted among laboratories very familiar with real-time PCR technology (21). Further studies will be needed to clarify this issue in addition to the continued exploration of other strategies for the investigation of complex fetal genetic traits by analysis of maternal plasma. These strategies may include the e...

Both intact fetal cells as well as cell-free fetal DNA are present in the maternal circulation and can be recovered for non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis. Although methods for enrichment and isolation of rare intact fetal cells have been challenging, diagnosis of fetal chromosomal aneuploidy including trisomy 21 in first- and second-trimester pregnancies has been achieved with a 50-75% de...

The kinetics and structure of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma is currently under investigation. Plasma fetal DNA seems quite stable albeit cleared rapidly following birth, suggesting continuous fetal DNA release into the maternal circulation during pregnancy. However, to understand better the kinetics of circulating DNA, studies to determine the biological (structural) form in which feta...

BACKGROUND Molecular analysis of plasma DNA during human pregnancy has led to the discovery that maternal plasma contains both fetal and maternal DNA. This valuable source of fetal DNA opens up new possibilities for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. APPROACH Published data from the last 3 years demonstrating the feasibility and utility of analyzing fetal DNA in maternal plasma are reviewed. C...

Background & Aims: Maternal infections with parvovirus B19 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) maybe associated with intrauterine fetal death. The aim of this study was to compare frequency of CMV & Parvovirus B19 Infections in intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) and normal pregnancy. Methods: In a case-control study in Afzalipour Hospital during 2006 placental biopsies were collected from 70 cases of IUFD a...

Recently published international guidelines recommend the clinical use of noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) for aneuploidy screening only among pregnant women whose fetuses are deemed at high risk. The applicability of NIPT to aneuploidy screening among average risk pregnancies requires additional supportive evidence. A key determinant of the reliability of aneuploidy NIPT is the fetal DNA fract...

BACKGROUND With the advent of massively parallel sequencing (MPS), DNA analysis can now be performed in a genomewide manner. Recent studies have demonstrated the high precision of MPS for quantifying fetal DNA in maternal plasma. In addition, paired-end sequencing can be used to determine the size of each sequenced DNA fragment. We applied MPS in a high-resolution investigation of the clearance...

BACKGROUND Second-trimester cell-free fetal DNA (studied only in pregnancies with male fetuses) is higher in maternal serum samples from women carrying Down syndrome fetuses than in unaffected pregnancies. In this study we evaluated the potential performance of fetal DNA as a screening marker for Down syndrome. METHODS Data on maternal serum fetal DNA concentrations and the corresponding conc...

OBJECTIVE To provide an introduction to new technologies involving maternal plasma cell-free fetal DNA for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis and screening in obstetrics. OPTIONS Limited to introductory discussion of maternal plasma cell-free fetal DNA. EVIDENCE MEDLINE was searched to identify publications related to the topic after 1996. This document represents an abstraction of the informa...