Press Release
Women not given accurate information about pregnancy blood tests
Women seeking to make informed decisions regarding non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) are not receiving accurate information. Many profit-driven companies are promoting almost 100% detection rates combined with a lack of accurate counselling. The accuracy of NIPT depends on the woman´s age since the frequency of trisomy increases with maternal age. For example, for a pregnant woman age 20, the test will falsely state that a fetus has Down syndrome in 60% of cases.
In a 30-year old woman, this number decreases to 45%, and in a 45 year old women to less than 5%. The rate of false positive results is particularly high for trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, the second and third most common autosomal chromosomal conditions.
NIPT is also not accurate or recommended before the 11th week of pregnancy, and women must be informed prior to consenting to have the test that NIPT is only a screening test. A positive result must be verified by a diagnostic test such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) that carries a risk of miscarriage.
The published research about NIPT is reviewed on the International Trisomy Alliance website www.internationaltrisomyalliance.com together with research publications about medical interventions and outcomes for children with trisomy 18 and trisomy13. Some articles have examples of surviving children who benefit from treatment and surgeries, and these children are described with a positive quality of life. Translations of free books for families and siblings are available on the website.
Women seeking to make informed decisions regarding non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) are not receiving accurate information. Many profit-driven companies are promoting almost 100% detection rates combined with a lack of accurate counselling. The accuracy of NIPT depends on the woman´s age since the frequency of trisomy increases with maternal age. For example, for a pregnant woman age 20, the test will falsely state that a fetus has Down syndrome in 60% of cases.
In a 30-year old woman, this number decreases to 45%, and in a 45 year old women to less than 5%. The rate of false positive results is particularly high for trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, the second and third most common autosomal chromosomal conditions.
NIPT is also not accurate or recommended before the 11th week of pregnancy, and women must be informed prior to consenting to have the test that NIPT is only a screening test. A positive result must be verified by a diagnostic test such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) that carries a risk of miscarriage.
The published research about NIPT is reviewed on the International Trisomy Alliance website www.internationaltrisomyalliance.com together with research publications about medical interventions and outcomes for children with trisomy 18 and trisomy13. Some articles have examples of surviving children who benefit from treatment and surgeries, and these children are described with a positive quality of life. Translations of free books for families and siblings are available on the website.
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