A blood test undertaken between 10 to 14 weeks of pregnancy may be more effective in diagnosing Down syndrome and two other less common chromosomal abnormalities than standard non-invasive screening techniques, according to a multicenter study led by a UCSF researcher.
In the study, which followed pregnancy outcomes in close to 16,000 women, the cell-free DNA blood test resulted in correctly identifying all 38 fetuses with Down syndrome, a condition associated with cognitive impairments and an increased risk of several medical disorders. The diagnosis was confirme...
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