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Nuchal-fold thickening in Down syndrome fetuses: transient appearance and spontaneous resolution in the second
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
To elucidate the cause of the wide variation of sensitivity of the nuchal-fold thickness (NFT) for a noninvasive prenatal screening test for fetal Down syndrome, we consecutively measured the NFT throughout pregnancy in eight fetuses with Down syndrome and 100 normal fetuses (negative controls) using video-recorded ultrasonography. When 6 mm was set as the cutoff value, 6/8 Down syndrome fetuses showed a NFT above this value at least once during pregnancy. However, the thickening was transient in 5 of them and resolved spontaneously during the second trimester. Persistent thickening of nuchal-fold was only observed in one fetus. From the results of the present study, we recommend that the NFT be measured repetitively during the first and second trimesters as a noninvasive prenatal screening test for Down syndrome.
To elucidate the cause of the wide variation of sensitivity of the nuchal-fold thickness (NFT) for a noninvasive prenatal screening test for fetal Down syndrome, we consecutively measured the NFT throughout pregnancy in eight fetuses with Down syndrome and 100 normal fetuses (negative controls) using video-recorded ultrasonography. When 6 mm was set as the cutoff value, 6/8 Down syndrome fetuses showed a NFT above this value at least once during pregnancy. However, the thickening was transient in 5 of them and resolved spontaneously during the second trimester. Persistent thickening of nuchal-fold was only observed in one fetus. From the results of the present study, we recommend that the NFT be measured repetitively during the first and second trimesters as a noninvasive prenatal screening test for Down syndrome.