Benefits and harms of prenatal screening
Prenatal screening studies, which are used to detect chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, reveal no more than half of such anomalies. At the same time, these studies are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage and infant mortality, EurekAlert reports!Researchers from the Italian TOMA laboratory in Busto Arsizio analyzed the results of 115,576 studies conducted in the laboratory over the past 14 years, including 84,847 amniocentesis and 30,729 chorionic biopsies (both of these studies require taking material from the cavity of the pregnant uterus).
The data obtained were combined with the official detection levels provided by the consortia SURUSS and FASTER.
Scientists have concluded that existing prenatal studies can detect chromosomal abnormalities in no more than half of cases. They detect only changes in the number of chromosomes, such as in Down, Edwards, Patau, Turner and triploidy syndromes, and even these are not in 100% of cases. These studies are not suitable for diagnosing disorders of the structure, not the number of chromosomes.
According to researcher Francesca R. Grati, doctors should pay great attention to consulting patients before these studies, explaining the possible risk and diagnostic value of the procedure. This is necessary so that a pregnant woman can make an informed decision about the study.