EARLY ULTRASOUND PREDICTION OF PREGNANCIES AFFECTED BY HOMOZYGOUS α-THALASSAEMIA-1

✍ Scribed by YUNG HANG LAM; ARABINDA GHOSH; MARY HOI YIN TANG; CHIN PENG LEE; SAI YUEN SIN

• Book ID: 101236066
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 185 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0197-3851
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0223(199704)17:4<327::aid-pd67>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

Homozygous -thalassaemia-1 is conventionally diagnosed by invasive testing on all at-risk pregnancies. We evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of non-invasive abdominal ultrasonographic cardiothoracic ratio measurement in 62 pregnancies at 13-14 weeks and 75 pregnancies at 17-18 weeks. This performed better than placental thickness measurement. Using a cardiothoracic ratio cut-off level of _0•5, 75 per cent of affected pregnancies were detected at 13-14 weeks and all cases were detected at 17-18 weeks. False-positive rates were 7 and 8 per cent, respectively. There was no false-positive diagnosis if the cardiothoracic ratio was _0•53. With this approach, invasive procedures can be selectively performed and fewer pregnancies will be lost unnecessarily. The reduction in medical expenses is likely to be substantial.