Cystic fibrosis screening at the Greenville Hospital System

Abstract

The cost effectiveness of prenatal screening for cystic fibrosis needs to be reexamined. This will require further study. At the time prenatal screening for CF carrier status was initiated, newborn screening for cystic fibrosis was not commonly available. The benefit of screening in our population was detection of 68 female carriers; however, this did not result in finding any fetuses affected with cystic fibrosis. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has recommended CF screening for women of childbearing age but as yet no consensus has been reached concerning the cost effectiveness of this policy. Although over 2600 pregnancies were tested, the reproductive outcome was not altered in a single pregnancy.