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A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
More attention should be paid to pregnant women who fail non-invasive prenatal screening
Bin Zhang1, Lingna Zhou1, Chuanshou Feng2
1Department of Medical Genetics, Changzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province 213000, China.
Objective:
We discuss how to handle failure of first-pass non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) and investigate the pregnancy outcomes after second-pass failure.
Methods:
A total of 35,187 pregnant women underwent NIPS in a single center. Those who failed first-pass NIPS were re-tested after a repeat blood draw. Those who failed again were offered genetic counseling. We recorded antenatal data and pregnancy outcomes.
Results:
A total of 273 (0.78%) women failed the first test. On re-testing, 220 (80.59%) yielded reliable results and 53 failed the test again. Women with higher total cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels evidenced a lower NIPS success rate (40%) and a higher incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Conclusions:
Most women who failed first-pass NIPS yielded reliable results on repeat testing, especially those with lower fetal fraction. Higher concentrations of cfDNA in maternal plasma were associated with poorer pregnancy outcomes. Such women require special attention, thus early medical intervention, to avoid an adverse prognosis.
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