Major decrease in the incidence of trisomy 21 at birth in south Belgium: mass impact of triple test?
| Autor: | Schoos R, Alain Verloes, Sylviane Lesenfants, Lionel Van Maldergem, Lucien Koulischer, Vinciane Dideberg, Mauricette Jamar, Yves Gillerot, Christian Herens |
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| Rok vydání: | 2001 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty Pregnancy High-Risk Statistics as Topic Belgium Pregnancy Prenatal Diagnosis otorhinolaryngologic diseases Genetics medicine Humans Mass Screening Genetics (clinical) medicine.diagnostic_test business.industry Obstetrics Incidence (epidemiology) Incidence Triple test Infant Newborn medicine.disease Infant newborn Female Down Syndrome Trisomy business Maternal Age |
| Zdroj: | European journal of human genetics : EJHG. 9(1) |
| ISSN: | 1018-4813 |
| Popis: | In South Belgium (Wallonia), the 'triple test' was introduced in 1990-1991, and is nowadays a widely accepted screening method for assessment of trisomy 21 risk in pregnancy. The 'triple test' is not regulated and can be freely performed by any biomedical lab, making epidemiological data unavailable. By contrast, cytogenetic investigations are limited to a few genetic centres, and accurate statistics can be easily built from their files. During the period 1984-1989, a total of 244 trisomy 21 (1/876 pregnancies) were diagnosed in the Genetic Centres of Liège and Loverval, 42 (17%) of them prenatally. During the period 1993-1998, 294 trisomy 21 (1/704 pregnancies) were observed, 165 (56%) of which prenatally, and more than 90% of affected pregnancies were terminated. Even after correction for late foetal loss of trisomic foetuses, the difference is highly significant, and corresponds to a theoretical shift in the incidence of trisomy 21 at birth from 1/794 to 1/1606. As no remarkable progress occurred in other non-invasive prenatal screening procedures or general health care policies in Belgium, the most reasonable explanation is the use on a large scale of triple test by pregnant women, and the election of termination for most affected pregnancies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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