Placental mRNA in maternal plasma: Prospects for fetal screening

摘要

Increasingly, over the past 30 years, couples at risk of bearing children with certain types of severe handi-caps have had the option of fetal diagnosis, followed by selective termination of pregnancy, with the prospect of trying for a healthy baby later. In a society where financial and other help is seldom available to provide adequate support to the parent caring for a severely disabled infant, it is understandable that there is an increasing demand for obstetric services to provide prenatal screening to determine risks, and safe tests to confirm, or exclude, the diagnosis. Modern obstetric ultrasonography brings the fetus into sight and is one of the main screening tests for developmental malformations.