title: Prevention and control of Hb Bart's disease in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the performance of Hb Bart's Disease prevention in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prenatal control program for Hb Bart's disease was conducted from January 2006 to December 2012. A total of 17,555 pregnant women were screened for α-thalassemia in our prenatal screening program. Pregnancy at-risk for Hb Bart's disease was offered the choice of direct invasive testing or the non-invasive approach with serial ultrasonography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1425 at-risk couples attended the prenatal diagnosis. Three hundred ninety couples were screened at our own hospital, and the remaining 1035 couples were referred from other hospitals. Two hundred and three pregnant women chose non-invasive approach, and 1122 chose invasive testing. A total of 365 fetuses were diagnosed with Hb Bart's disease. All cases were finally confirmed by fetal DNA analysis. Eighty-two cases (22.4%) were diagnosed by chorionic villous sampling and 194 (53.2%) by amniocentesis samples. The other 89 (24.4%) cases were performed by cordocentesis. All of the affected pregnancies were terminated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of a prevention and control program accompanying with a referral system for prenatal diagnosis is technically feasible in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dongming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shaoke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiuli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnostic Center, Guangxi Zhuang Automonous Region Women and Children Care Hospital, 59 Xiangzhu Road, Naning 530000, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: piger561220881@163.com.
authors.forename: Chenguang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D002681:China; D017218:Cordocentesis; D005260:Female; D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal; C030448:hemoglobin Bart's
keywords: Hb Bart's disease; Prenatal diagnosis; Prevention and control