Screening in pregnancy for congenital abnormality.
Screening programmes and techniques for antenatal diagnosis of a large number of congenital malformations and genetic disorders are now available. Most techniques requiring samples of fetal material for analysis carry some degree of risk to the pregnancy. These risks must be weighed against the degree of risk that a particular couple may have of producing a fetus suffering from any given congenital disorder before antenatal diagnosis is offered or undertaken. Careful and considerate counselling of the couple is an essential part of any screening programme.
D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000453:epidemiology; D025063:Chromosome Disorders; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008661:Metabolism, Inborn Errors / Q000453:epidemiology; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*