Dimeric Inhibin A as a Fourth Marker for Down's Syndrome Maternal Serum Screening in Native Japanese Women

Abstract

This report shows for the first time that dimeric inhibin A can be informative as a fourth marker for Down's syndrome screening in native Japanese women. We expect the addition of dimeric inhibin A to a triple marker protocol will increase the accuracy of predicted risk for all pregnancies screened and increase the detection rate of Down's syndrome affected pregnancies.

Inhibin‐A levels between 14 and 20 weeks of gestation in Thai women

“…Forty percent of the laboratories in the USA measure inhibin‐A and it is estimated that 64% of women with prenatal serum screening have inhibin‐A measured as part of the screening test 21 . As the levels of serum markers vary among ethnic groups, 22 each center should have its own normative data.…”

Survey of second‐trimester maternal serum screening in Japan

“…Second-trimester maternal serum screening (MSS) is non-invasive testing and is calculated by maternal serum measurements and gestation age. [1][2][3] It is the predominant form of prenatal screening for Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 18 and neural tube defects (NTDs) in Japan. First-trimester screening is not widely used.…”

The trick of probabilities: Pregnant women's interpretations of maternal serum screening results in Japan

“…As such, the Announcement concern regarding the difficulties that women face in interpreting MSS results is understandable. However, few studies on MSS have been conducted in Japan, with the majority focused on its biochemical features and detection accuracy (Onda et al ., 1998; 2000; 2004; Iinuma et al ., 1999; Miyamura et al ., 1999; Yoshida et al ., 2000; Iinuma & Shimomura, 2001). To date, there have been no studies on how pregnant Japanese women interpret MSS test results.…”