Utility of noninvasive genome-wide screening: a prospective cohort of obstetric patients undergoing diagnostic testing.

Purpose: Copy-number variant (CNV) assessment is recommended for patients undergoing prenatal diagnostic testing. Noninvasive screening tests have not been extensively validated for CNV detection. The objective of this study was to compare the ability of genome-wide noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) to chromosomal microarray to detect clinically significant findings.

Is the starting section for 3D volume acquisition in the first trimester relevant in the post hoc analysis of aneuploidy screening markers and fetal anatomy?

Objective: To determine the ability to assess the fetal anatomy and ultrasound screening markers using three-dimensional (3D) volumes acquired during the 11th to 13th  week scan, in relation to whether a fetal profile could be used as a starting section.

Methods: Post hoc analysis of 3D ultrasound volumes acquired at 11 to 13 weeks in 223 pregnancies was performed to identify the appropriate sections for evaluation of three screening markers and ten fetal anatomy landmarks. When possible, the fetal profile was used as the starting section for volume acquisition.

Reciprocal expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and cyclooxygenase-2 in human term parturition.

Objective: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) is expressed in intrauterine tissues before active term human parturition, and that its repression is associated with up-regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2).

Study Design: Specimens were collected from women with term singleton pregnancies after spontaneous labor or cesarean section before labor, prepared for immunoblot and immunohistochemical analysis, and probed for PPAR-gamma or COX-2.

Results: PPAR-gamma expression was prominent in fetal membranes and placenta before active labor.