Cystic fibrosis screening at the Greenville Hospital System.
The cost effectiveness of prenatal screening for cystic fibrosis needs to be reexamined. This will require further study. At the time prenatal screening for CF carrier status was initiated, newborn screening for cystic fibrosis was not commonly available. The benefit of screening in our population was detection of 68 female carriers; however, this did not result in finding any fetuses affected with cystic fibrosis. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has recommended CF screening for women of childbearing age but as yet no consensus has been reached concerning the cost effectiveness of this policy. Although over 2600 pregnancies were tested, the reproductive outcome was not altered in a single pregnancy.
Dacus
John
J
Department of OB/GYN, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division, 890 West Faris Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29605, USA. jdacus@ghs.org
Mabie
Bill
B
Gailey
Thompson
T
Rogers
Curtis
C
Likes
Creighton
C
Metcalf
Lindsay
L
D000328:Adult; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006579:Heterozygote; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009154:Mutation; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013022:South Carolina