Serological and virological analysis of maternal and fetal blood samples in prenatal human parvovirus b19 infection.

Background: Intrauterine parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection can be asymptomatic or may cause severe fetal complications. Information on serological and virological findings of infection in the fetus is scarce.

Methods: We determined B19V-DNA and anti-B19V antibodies in maternal and fetal blood samples obtained from 41 pregnancies that were complicated by prenatal B19V infection.

Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of skeletal dysplasias.

Objective: To assess the types and numbers of cases, gestational age at specific prenatal diagnosis and diagnostic accuracy of the diagnosis of skeletal dysplasias in a prenatal population from a single tertiary center.

Methods: This was a retrospective database review of type, prenatal and definitive postnatal diagnoses and gestational age at specific prenatal diagnosis of all cases of skeletal dysplasias from a mixed referral and screening population between 1985 and 2007. Prenatal diagnoses were grouped into 'correct ultrasound diagnosis' (complete concordance with postnatal pediatric or pathological findings) or 'partially correct ultrasound diagnosis' (skeletal dysplasias found postnatally to be a different one from that diagnosed prenatally).

3D ultrasound in fetal spina bifida.

3D ultrasound can be used to study the fetal spine, but skeletal mode can be inconclusive for the diagnosis of fetal spina bifida. We illustrate a diagnostic approach using 2D and 3D ultrasound and indicate possible pitfalls.

The nasal bone in fetuses with trisomy 21: sonographic versus pathomorphological findings.

Objective: To compare the sonographic findings of the nasal bone in fetuses with trisomy 21 with pathomorphological findings to determine whether the bone is truly absent.

Methods: Seventeen first-trimester fetuses with trisomy 21 were identified; the median gestational age was 12 weeks (range, 11-14) and the median maternal age was 38 (range, 27-47) years. Transabdominal ultrasound examination, preceding transabdominal chorionic villus sampling (TA-CVS) for karyotyping, included assessment of the fetal nose.

Screening for trisomy 21 by fetal nuchal translucency and maternal age: a multicenter project in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of screening for trisomy 21 by a combination of maternal age and fetal nuchal translucency thickness at 10-14 weeks of gestation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Methods: This was a multicenter study of screening for trisomy 21 by a combination of maternal age and fetal nuchal translucency thickness at 10-14 weeks of gestation. All the sonographers involved in the study had received The Fetal Medicine Foundation Certificate of Competence in the 10-14-week scan.

Choice of anticoagulant can influence the analysis using fluorescence in situ hybridization of fetal cells enriched from maternal blood.

A notable degree of research attention is being focused on the use of fetal cells enriched from the blood of pregnant women as a non-invasive means of prenatal diagnosis. By using magnetic activated cells sorting (MACS) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we have examined the efficacy of enriched fetal cells in determining fetal sex. An unexpected finding of this investigation was that the sensitivity of this analysis was influenced by the anticoagulant used to treat the maternal blood samples.

Approximately half of the erythroblasts in maternal blood are of fetal origin.

The enrichment of fetal erythroblasts from the peripheral blood of pregnant women is currently actively pursued for the development of a non-invasive means of prenatal diagnosis. Since erythroblasts in maternal blood are not all of fetal origin, and currently no reliable method exists to distinguish between the maternal and fetal erythroblasts, their use for prenatal diagnosis is not without uncertainty. The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of fetal erythroblasts in maternal blood at the single cell level and to what extent such cells can reproducibly be used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based prenatal diagnostic analyses.