title: First trimester nuchal translucency: effective routine screening for Down's syndrome.
abstract: The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of 10-14 week nuchal translucency measurement in routine ultrasound screening for Down's syndrome. 11,398 women were scanned at 10-14 weeks of pregnancy for nuchal translucency measurements. The mean maternal age of the screened population was not significantly different from that of the booking population. A 5% screen positive rate was achieved by using a nuchal translucency-derived risk of > or = 1:200. Screening using this nuchal translucency risk would enable the first trimester detection of 16 out of 21 (76%) fetuses with Down's syndrome and 40 out of 49 (81%) aneuploid fetuses. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that first trimester nuchal translucency measurement is an effective method of screening for fetal chromosomal abnormality.
authors.affiliation: Feto-Maternal Medicine Unit, Homerton Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thilaganathan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sairam
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Michailidis
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Wathen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000782:Aneuploidy; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*