Another option for Down's syndrome screening available

doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7237.733/a

BMJ 2000;320:733 ( 18 March )

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Another option for Down's syndrome screening available

Jacqui Wise , London
The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A new antenatal screening test for Down's syndrome is now available in Britain. The integrated test combines blood tests andan ultrasound scan to produce a single estimate of the woman'srisk of having a child with Down'ssyndrome.

The new test uses a woman's age, two measurements taken between 10 and 13 weeks of pregnancy (a nuchal translucency ultrasoundmeasurement of the fetus and the level of pregnancy associatedplasma protein A in the woman's blood), and the measurement offour substances in the woman's blood taken two to four weeks later(a fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol, human chorionic gonadotrophin,and inhibinA).

Nick Wald, professor of environmental and preventive medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London, said:"The integrated test is more effective than any other Down's syndromescreening method currently available. It captures the advantagesof the different options into a singletest."

The integrated test detects . . . [Full text of this article]

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