The quest for earlier aneuploidy diagnosis. (Nuchal Translucency, Skinfold Depth).

NEW ORLEANS -- Some of the hurdles on the path toward accurate first-trimester aneuploidy screening may be less difficult to clear than previously thought, according to the results of two related studies presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The first shows a trend suggestive of a relationship between first-trimester nuchal translucency measurements and second-trimester nuchal skinfold depths. If further study should show a statistically significant association between these measurements, the two would no longer be considered independent variables in aneuploidy risk calculations, as they are now. Rather, the two findings would represent a continuum in terms of aneuploidy risk, Dr. Sriram C. Perni reported in a poster presentation.

The current standard of care in aneuploidy risk calculations also includes maternal age, triple-screen results, and second-trimester ultrasound identification of fetal anomalies, said Dr. Perni of Cornell University, New York.

"What we hope to do is eventually move screening into the first trimester," he said in an interview.

The findings were based on a review of randomly selected nuchal translucency measurements (from the Cornell database) and nuchal skin-fold depth measurements (taken directly from the corresponding second-trimester ultrasound images) in euploid fetuses. Nuchal translucency had been measured between 11 and 14 weeks' gestation, and nuchal skinfold depth was measured between 18 ...