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Biochemical screening for Down’s syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

MCM Macintosh  and
T Chard
MCM Macintosh*
Affiliation:
Department of Reproductive Physiology, St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London, UK.
T Chard
Affiliation:
Department of Reproductive Physiology, St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London, UK.
*
Dr MCM Macintosh, Department of Reproductive Physiology, St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London ECIA 7BE, UK.
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Extract

Down’s syndrome (DS) is the commonest single cause of severe mental retardation and accounts for just under a third of all cases. Until the late 1980’s population screening was based on offering amniocentensis to older women. This made little impact on the prevalence of DS because the majority (approximately 70%) of babies with DS are born to women under the age of 35 (Figure 1).

Type
Articles
Information
Fetal and Maternal Medicine Review , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , November 1993 , pp. 181 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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