The non invasive prenatal test based on fetal DNA analysis is a next generation exam more and more spread. The fetal DNA test is performed to detect main chromosome trisomies during pregnancy, it is for all women and mostly for those who have risk factors.
The fetal DNA test can be performed starting from 10th week of pregnancy with a simple blood draw. The exam is based on the analysis of fragments of DNA from the fetus, that are produced by the placenta and circulates in the blood of the expectant mother during all pregnancy.
The test based on fetal DNA analysis is a non invasive prenatal test and it doesn’t put at risk the health of the mother and of the fetus, unlike invasive prenatal diagnosis tests (like amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling).
Aurora non invasive prenatal test is based on Massive Parallel Sequencing technology (MPS), that allows to analyse the whole human genome to detect abnormalities in chromosomes. By analysing cell-free fetal DNA, this next generation technology can detect with a reliability of 99.9% the main trisomies, such as Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18), Patau syndrome (trisomy 13) and sex chromosome abnormalities. The fetal DNA test can also detect the sex of the baby.
The non invasive prenatal test that analyse cell-free fetal DNA can be performed by all pregnant women and especially from those with risk factor, such as:
- Advanced maternal age
- Personal/family case history with chromosome abnormalities
- Previous children with chromosome abnormalities
- Positive results from screening test for the first/second quarter
Whenever the fetal DNA test gives a result suggesting chromosome abnormalities, the physician may suggest to undergo an invasive prenatal diagnosis test to confirm the result.
If you want to perform a fetal DNA test choose Aurora