INTRODUCTION To evaluate the performance of first trimester nuchal translucency scan screening among pregnant women in Nigeria. METHODS A prospective observational and questionnaire based study involving 510 pregnant women between 11(+0) and 13(+6) weeks. Routine counselling and nuchal translucency measurement was conducted using the FMF, London guidelines. Chorionic villous sampling was done...

Nuchal skin oedema at 10-14 weeks gestation, observed by ultrasonography as increased nuchal translucency (NT), is found in approximately 70% of fetuses with trisomies 21, 18 and 13 as well as those with Turner's syndrome. This study investigates the possibility that one mechanism for increased translucency is an altered composition of the skin with a higher concentration of hyaluronan; large a...

AIMS The purpose of this study was to define the most suitable cut-off point for fetal nuchal translucency thickness in a screening program for aneuploidy and trisomy 21 in the south of Vietnam. MATERIAL & METHODS Two thousand and five hundred cases of singleton pregnancies were followed prospectively from the first trimester to the delivery. The rate of aneuploidy was calculated by seeking a...

In 42 cases of trisomy 13 at 10-14 weeks of gestation, compared with 947 controls, the median multiple of the median (MoM) of maternal serum free beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-hCG) and pregnancy associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) was significantly decreased (0.506 MoM and 0.248 MoM respectively), whilst fetal nuchal translucency was increased (2.872 MoM). In 38% and 71% of cases of...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of verification bias on the accuracy of first-trimester nuchal translucency measurement for Down syndrome detection. METHODS We used MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify all papers relating the results of nuchal translucency measurement to fetal karyotype. The detected studies were scored for verification bias. Fifteen studies without and ten with verification bias ...

First-trimester sonographic assessment of the risk of chromosomal abnormalities is routinely performed throughout the world, primarily by measuring fetal nuchal translucency thickness between 11-13 weeks' gestation, combined with assessment of serum markers. The development of high-frequency transvaginal transducers has led to improved ultrasound resolution and better visualization of fetal ana...

Background Nuchal translucency (NT) is the sonographic appearance of a collection of fluid under the skin behind the fetal neck in the first-trimester of pregnancy. In fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities, cardiac defects and many genetic syndromes NT thickness is increased. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of major cardiac defects in relation to the fetal NT in chromosomall...

OBJECTIVE Quantitative analysis of the quality of nuchal translucency (NT) measurements. METHODS First-trimester combined screening for Down syndrome was performed to all pregnant women attended in our Department from October 2003 to November 2009. NT was measured according to the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) criteria by 20 trained obstetricians. The performance of NT measurements was retr...