Comparison of ultrasonographic accuracy with laboratory in fetal screening and neonatal outcomes

Background: The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of nuchal translucency (NT) measurement with laboratory screening tests in prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome (DS) and neonatal outcomes.Methods: In this cross sectional descriptive study, data were collected from 260 pregnancy files. Ages of pregnant women were 20–34 year old who referred for prenatal care. NT was measured by ultrasound at 11–13+6 and quad marker tests at 15–18 gestational week. Data analysis was performed by SPSS 21 (IBM, USA) that was considered significant with P < 0.05Result: Two-hundred and twenty-one pregnant women with average age of 26.6 ± 4.44 years were screened. Frequency of negative screening tests for DS was 188 pregnant women (88.7%) and 24 (11.3%) of them positive. Amniocentesis was performed for those who had positive screening test, but their NT measurement was <3.5 mm. All reports of amniocentesis were negative which was consistent with fetal NT ultrasonography reports, and all neonatal outcomes were normal after delivery follow-up.Conclusion: NT measurement and quad marker test cannot accurately predict the fetal health in the future; however, NT is more reliable than laboratory screening tests because it is more consistent with the results of amniocentesis. NT is also a safer and cheaper method than amniocentesis. Pregnant women tolerate an unfavorable psychological stress and high cost during amniocentesis. The suggested option is to assess the cell-free fetal DNA in pregnant blood instead of amniocentesis.

Keywords:

Laboratory , neonatal outcomes , nuchal translucency , screening