BACKGROUND In the United States, Down syndrome screening is still performed mainly in the second trimester, using 3 or 4 markers. Moving screening into the first trimester has the advantage of earlier diagnosis. Currently, first-trimester screening typically includes maternal serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), the free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (free beta),...

Objective To assess the relationship between longitudinal changes in placental Doppler indices and maternal circulating angiogenic factors in the first half of pregnancy and delivery of a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonate, and ascertain whether longitudinal evaluation of these variables improves the prediction achieved by second-trimester cross-sectional evaluation. Methods From a prospec...

The implementation of innovative medical technologies can raise unprecedented ethical, legal and social dilemmas. This is particularly so in the area of antenatal screening, which is dominated by the language of risk and probabilities. Second trimester serum screening for Down's syndrome and neural tube defects has a well-established place in antenatal care. Increasingly, first trimester screen...

background: the aim of this perspective study was to assess the frequency of hemoglobinopathy mutational genes among voluntary hemoglobinopathy carrier couples-to-be referred to thalassemia center, shafa hospital, affiliated to ahvaz jondidishapur university of medical sciences (ajuoms), during their first trimester of pregnancy for genetic screening and counseling for prenatal diagnosis (pnd)....

BACKGROUND The government is encouraging the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs). There is little information about using EMRs in the obstetric literature and none about using them in family medicine residencies. Our purpose was to assess if using an EMR was associated with improvement in the ordering and availability of prenatal tests. METHODS A retrospective chart review comparing...

INTRODUCTION Triploidy is a lethal chromosomal numeric abnormality, characterized on extra haploid set of chromosomes. It occurs in 2 to 3% of conceptuses and accounts for approximately 20% of chromosomally abnormal first-trimester miscarriages. As such, triploidy is estimated to occur in 1 of 3,500 pregnancies at 12 weeks', 1 in 30,000 at 16 weeks', and 1 in 250,000 at 20 weeks' gestation. C...