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Prenatal Diagnosis

© Yasser Anathallee

This week we will look at webpages dealing with prenatal diagnosis techniques. This will be useful not only to medical students but may also interest future parents. One should also bear in mind that every pregnancy does not necessarily require the whole battery of tests. Certain tests are only carried out only when there is a risk of complication, and may themselves increase the risk of miscarriage, especially in cases of invasive techniques.

http://medstat.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTO... This webpage talks about the different techniques of prenatal diagnosis: - Ultrasonography - Amniocentesis - Chorionic villus sampling - Fetal blood cells in maternal blood - Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein - Maternal serum beta-HCG - Maternal serum estriol

It also gives an overview of foetal-placental abnormalities, e.g. - Chromosomal Abnormalities - Neural Tube Defects - Hydrops Fetalis - Congenital Infections - Disruptions - Renal Cystic Disease - Congenital Neoplasms - Skeletal Abnormalities - Placental Abnormalities Also check the other tutorials available from the site.

http://www.aomc.org/amnio.html On this page you will find all the essential questions concerning amniocentesis and their answers. It explains when amniocentesis is done, the risks involved and the procedure involved in performing the test.

http://familydoctor.org/handouts/144.html Here both amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) are explained, albeit not in as much detail as the previous page cited. But what is interesting is the comparison done between amniocentesis and CVS.

http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/lib_pr... Not much about prenatal diagnosis itself on this site, but links to other interesting webpages.

http://www.mostgene.org/topics/cprnat01.... "Resources for Prenatal Diagnosis" is another page full of links, not only those dealing with prenatal diagnosis. Includes links to journals, professional organisations, professional databases and general information sites.

http://noah.cuny.edu/providers/mod.html March of Dimes, Birth Defect Foundation offers a lot of information on pregnancy, starting from pre-pregnancy to post-natal childcare and polio, going through pre-natal care, pre-natal testing and potential problems and risks. Subheadings are: -PRE-PREGNANCY -PRE-NATAL CARE -THE BASICS -FETAL DEVELOPMENT -NUTRITION AND FITNESS -PRE-NATAL TESTING -POTENTIAL PROBLEMS AND RISKS -BIRTH DEFECTS AND GENETICS -GIVING BIRTH -ILLNESSES DURING PREGNANCY -SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES -SPECIAL RISKS -SUBSTANCE ABUSE DURING PREGNANCY -POST-NATAL CHILD CARE -POLIO If you want to go straight to the amniocentesis and ultrasound pages, the links are: http://noah.cuny.edu/pregnancy/march_of_... http://noah.cuny.edu/pregnancy/march_of_...

I hope these few webpages will be of some help to you, let me have your feedback. Next month we'll have a look at Down's syndrome.

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