Immune changes in pregnancy: associations with pre-existing conditions and obstetrical complications at the 20th gestational week-a prospective cohort study.

Background: Pregnancy is a complex biological process and serious complications can arise when the delicate balance between the maternal and semi-allogeneic fetal immune systems is disrupted or challenged. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, and low birth weight pose serious threats to maternal and fetal health. Identification of early biomarkers through an in-depth understanding of molecular mechanisms is critical for early intervention.

Cell-free fetal DNA for genetic evaluation in Copenhagen Pregnancy Loss Study (COPL): a prospective cohort study.

Background: One in four pregnancies end in a pregnancy loss. Although the effect on couples is well documented, evidence-based treatments and prediction models are absent. Fetal aneuploidy is associated with a higher chance of a next successful pregnancy compared with euploid pregnancy loss in which underlying maternal conditions might be causal.

Pregnancy Loss and Cardiovascular Diseases in Women: Recent Findings and Potential Mechanisms.

Purpose Of Review: Pregnancy loss (PL) has been acknowledged by the American Heart Association as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) later in life. This review aims to sum up recent findings (< ~ 5 years), concerning the link between PL and CVD.

Recent Findings: The association between PL and risk of CVD increased with increasing number of PLs and is inversely correlated to maternal age, indicating that the association concerns euploid PLs.

High risk-What's next? A survey study on decisional conflict, regret, and satisfaction among high-risk pregnant women making choices about further prenatal testing for fetal aneuploidy.

Objectives: To investigate decision making among pregnant women when choosing between noninvasive prenatal testing, invasive testing, or no further testing.

Methods: Women with a high-risk result from the first trimester screening were invited to fill in two online questionnaires at gestational age 12 to 14 (Q1) and 24 weeks (Q2). The scales used were Decisional Conflict and Regret Scales, Satisfaction with genetic Counselling Scale, and Health-Relevant Personality Inventory.

Discordant non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) - a systematic review.

With a high sensitivity and specificity, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an incomparable screening test for fetal aneuploidy. However, the method is rather newly introduced, and experiences with discordant results are few. We did a systematic review of literature reporting details of false positive and false negative NIPT results.

The maternal age-related first trimester risks for trisomy 21, 18 and 13 based on Danish first trimester data from 2005 to 2014.

Objectives: Most currently used age-related risks of T21, T18 and T13 are based on estimates of the live-birth prevalence, and describe an exponential increase of risk by increased maternal age. We investigated the first trimester prevalence of T21, T18 and T13 in a large population of Danish women.

Methods: From the Danish Cytogenetic Central Registry we got the information of all pre- and postnatally diagnosed fetuses with T21, T18 or T13 between 2005 and 2014 in Denmark.

Are there characteristics of the false-negative cases from the first trimester combined screening programme for Down syndrome?

Purpose Of Review: To review if there are any characteristics of false-negative cases from the first trimester combined screening programme for Down syndrome and by that to stimulate new approaches for improvements of the screening performance.

Recent Findings: We are aware of only two studies based on screening results of false-negative cases. Screening results from false-negative cases show that maternal age is lower, nuchal translucency smaller, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A level higher, β-human chorionic gonadotropin level lower and crown-rump length bigger than among true positive cases.