The rate of newborns with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) who have been referred to our pediatric newborn clinic is very high. This shows that prenatal screening in the region is not carried out well. Prenatal diagnosis and screening methods include invasive prenatal diagnosis methods (amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling (CVS), and cordocentesis) and non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPT) which cell free fetal DNA (cffDNA) screening of maternal blood samples. After the discovery of the signs of fetal DNA in maternal blood in 1997 and parallel to advancements in molecular genetics and technology, NIPT has become a widely used method in the world in the last few years (1).
Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis is a test without risks both for the mother and for the fetus. A 4-5 cc peripheral blood sample taken from the mother's arm is sufficient for the diagnosis. This method scans the 13, 18, 21, and sex chromosomes (X/Y) in the 8th week of pregnancy. The test involves whole genome scanning or targeted screening for trisomy or monosomy in mother's blood in search of cffDNA fragments of the fetus. The test results within a few days, thus eliminating maternal anxiety and, if there are pathological results, providing enough time to terminate pregnancy in its early weeks. Other invasive prenatal tests can only be applied in later weeks of pregnancy compared to NIPT. For instance, CVS can be done in the 11th-12th weeks of pregnancy while amniocentesis can be applied in the 16th-18th weeks of pregnancy. Still, patients need to wait for an average of 3 weeks for the results in these tests. Moreover, even in experienced hands, both CVS and amniocentesis carry the risk of abortion at a rate of 1/50 and 1/200, respectively.
Recent studies on trisomy 21 with NIPT method show that practitioners may achieve results with high sensitivity and specificity without the need for long cell culture. In addition to frequent screening for fetal trisomy, screening of mother's blood for single gene disorders of the fetus will eventually become a routine practice; there are already many studies underway to this end. The most controversial aspect of this method is the ethical aspect; geneticists and obstetricians share different opinions about this issue (2).
Table 1. Sensitivity and specificity results of eight different studies for Down syndrome screening by NIPT.
Authors – Year of Publication | Method | P | FP | N | FN | Sensitivity | Specificity |
Enrich et al. 2011(3) | Whole Genome | 39 | 0 | 410 | 1 | 100 | 99.7 |
Palomaki et al. 2011(4) | Whole Genome | 212 | 3 | 1471 | 3 | 99.6 | 99.8 |
Bianchi et al. 2012(5) | Whole Genome | 89 | 0 | 404 | 0 | 100 | 100 |
Ashoor et al. 2012(6) | Targeted Screening | 50 | 0 | 297 | 0 | 100 | 100 |
Sparks et al. 2012(7) | Targeted Screening | 36 | 0 | 123 | 0 | 100 | 100 |
Norton et al. 2012(8) | Targeted Screening | 81 | 0 | 2888 | 1 | 100 | 99.97 |
Futch et al. 2013(9) | Whole Genome | 154 | 2 | 5515 | 1 | 98.72 | 99.98 |
Liang et al. 2011(10) | Whole Genome | 40 | 0 | 372 | 0 | 100 | 100 |
P: Positive; FP: False positive; N: Negative; FN: False negative
NIPT has certain advantages; it is harmless to the mother and fetus while it also provides early diagnosis as early as the 8th week of pregnancy and the option of early termination in cases with aneuploidy. Besides, the results of NIPT can be obtained within a few days, which is another plus side for this method. Whereas, there are also some disadvantages of this method such as its inability to provide information about all the structural and numerical chromosome abnormalities, the fact that it is not 100% reliable for common trisomies, and its comparatively high cost. NIPT is a routinely applied screening method in some developed countries. In Turkey, through some local private laboratories, samples are sent to centres abroad to be studied. I believe that offering NIPT as an alternative method in addition to other invasive prenatal diagnostic methods will be beneficial for the patients in our region.
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Birincil Dil | Tr |
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Bölüm | Makaleler |
Yazarlar | |
Yayımlanma Tarihi | 11 Aralık 2015 |
Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2015 Cilt: 22 Sayı: 2 |