Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Nov;25(11):984-90.
doi: 10.1002/pd.1217.

Population screening for fetal trisomy 21: easy access to screening should be balanced against a uniform ultrasound protocol

Wilfried J A Gyselaers  1 , Annie J Vereecken, Erik J H Van Herck, Dany P L Straetmans, Eric T M de Jonge, Willem U A M Ombelet, Jan G Nijhuis
Affiliations

Population screening for fetal trisomy 21: easy access to screening should be balanced against a uniform ultrasound protocol

Wilfried J A Gyselaers et al. Prenat Diagn. 2005 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of a first-trimester fetal aneuploidy screening program, with a documented underestimation of nuchal translucency thickness measurements (NT) compared to the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) reference range.

Methods: We analysed the data of Algemeen Medisch Laboratorium (AML) in Antwerp, Belgium, on combined screening with pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), free beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (FB-hCG) and NT. NT-multiples of the median (MoM), relative to the FMF reference range, were used for risk calculations.

Results: The proportion of first-trimester screening tests in the total of serum screening tests increased from 1.3% (125/9424) in 2000 to 53.1% (6577/12 377) in 2003. Only 11.4% (1514/13 267) of NT measurements were performed according to FMF criteria. The 80.8% (21/26) trisomy 21 (T21) detection rate (DR) at cut off 1:300 resulted from maternal serum screening. NT measurements did not add to this DR, but reduced the false-positive rate from 16.8% (2212/13181) to 8.6% (1130/13181). Only 23.8% (5/21) of T21 detections were by FMF trainees.

Conclusion: Easy access to screening and maternal serum parameters accounted for the majority of T21 detections in our first-trimester combined screening program.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

Substances