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2003 JAN 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Looking at the nasal bones of fetuses at the mid-trimester scan could improve the detection of Down syndrome during pregnancy, according to new study results.
The most frequently occurring chromosomal abnormality, Down syndrome affects every 1 in 500 to 600 live births. This genetic condition arises from an error in cell division that results in an extra copy of chromosome 21. More mature women have an increased chance of carrying a baby with chromosomal abnormalities, so they are offered amniocentesis, a procedure that involves taking a sample of amniotic fluid. This is currently the most effective way of testing for Down syndrome, but there is a risk that miscarriage can be induced.
Professor Kypros Nicolaides of King's Hospital Medical School has previously demonstrated using ultrasound that in the early stages of gestation the nasal bone is underdeveloped in about 70% of fetuses with a chromosomal anomaly, but in fewer than 1% of normal fetuses.
Now for the first time Nicolaides and his team of researchers have studied the incidence of absent nasal bones in chromosomally normal and abnormal fetuses at the mid-trimester ...
Source: HighBeam Research, New method shown to be effective for detection at mid-trimester...