New trends in prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities

In the recent years, the scope of prenatal genetic diagnosis has expanded greatly with the development of a number of new methods, such as maternal serum screening and ultrasound screening for detection of fetal abnormalities. These methods have the advantage of providing earlier diagnosis in addition to being non-invasive and of less psychological traumas. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is another new growing field offering the genetic diagnosis prior to implantation. The most promising of all is the first trimester biochemical screening in conjunction with ultrasound nuchal translucency screening.