Prenatal Diagnosis- Ultrasonography, Amniocentesis and Chorionic Villus Sampling

Ultrasonography

High frequency sound waves which are utilized to produce visible images from the pattern of the echos made by different tissues and organs, including the baby in the amniotic cavity.

Amniocentesis

An invasive procedure in which a needle is passed through the mother's lower abdomen into the amniotic cavity inside the uterus.

When is Amniocentesis done?

At 14-20 weeks of gestation, such that there's enough amniotic fluid

6

The developing embryo can first be visualized at about ________ weeks gestation.

What is the important component of amniotic fluid?

Within the amniotic fluid are fetal cells (mostly derived from fetal skin) which can be grown in culture for chromosome analysis, biochemical analysis, and molecular biologic analysis

cells

The ________ can also be grown in culture for biochemical or molecular biologic analysis.

invasive techniques

There are a variety of non- invasive and ________ available for prenatal diagnosis.

chorionic villus sampling

In this procedure, a catheter is passed via the vagina through the cervix and into the uterus to the developing placenta under ultrasound guidance

Other tests for fetal lung maturity include fluorescence polarization (fpol), lecithin

sphingomyelin (LS) ratio, and phosphatidyl glycerol (PG)

What is the most common test using CVS?

The most common test employed on cells obtained by CVS is chromosome analysis to determine the karyotype of the fetus