New screening tests

From this week every trust in England will now be offering a new combined screening test to expectant parents.  The new test, based on a blood sample, analyses DNA and offers 99% accuracy in screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome, or Patau’s syndrome.  It is hoped that this will  mean that fewer women will need unnecessary diagnostic tests, which can potentially mean a small risk of losing their baby.

RCM practice and standards professional advisor Mervi Jokinen said: “The RCM welcomes this new screening technology, which provides non-invasive testing in pregnancy. It will support and improve the already established screening tests, which women are familiar with anyway, such as scans and blood tests provided in early pregnancy.  What is different is that the new blood test provides choice and reduces the need for diagnostic testing of fetal DNA through obtaining fetal cells in amniotic fluid for abnormalities – a procedure that carries a risk of miscarriage.”

Professor Alan Cameron, Vice President of Clinical Quality for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said: “The RCOG welcomes the news that non-invasive prenatal testing has been recommended for high-risk women on the NHS. This test is the most accurate and safest way of detecting conditions and genetic diseases that may have potentially serious consequence.”

RCM response can be viewed in full here

RCOG summary is here