Prenatal Screening for Down's Syndrome in Maine, 1980 to 1993

Abstract

Letters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment) provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. Please note the following:• Your letter must be typewritten and triple-spaced. • Its text, not including references, must not exceed 400 words (please include a word count). • It must have no more than five references and one figure or table.• It should not be signed by more than three authors. • Letters referring to a recent Journal article must be received within four weeks of its publication. • Please include your full address, telephone number, and fax number (if you have one). Our fax numbers: 617-739-9864 and 617-734-4457Our e-mail address: letters@edit.nejm.orgWe cannot acknowledge receipt of your letter, but we will notify you when we have made a decision about publication. We are unable to provide prepublication proofs. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want unpublished material returned to you.Financial associations or other possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed. Submission of a letter constitutes permission for the Massachusetts Medical Society, its licensees, and its assignees to use it in the Journal 's various editions (print, data base, and optical disk) and in anthologies, revisions, and any other form or medium. The New England Journal of Medicine Downloaded from nejm.org at NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY on August 11, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission.

Population screening for aneuploidy using maternal age and ultrasound

“…When comparing our results for trisomy 21 with other places a recent study in Maine (U.S.A.) showed a proportion of 46 per cent of prenatally detected cases for trisomy 21 during the 1991-1993 period (Palomaki et al, 1996). The proportion in Isère for the same three-year period, 1991-1993, was 41 per cent, and the difference between these two proportions is not significant (P=0·59).…”

Early Detection of Structural Anomalies in a Primary Care Setting in the Netherlands

“…Prenatal screening has been rapidly and continuously evolving since its introduction in the seventies [1]. Since 2007, pregnant women in the Netherlands can opt for first-trimester screening (FTS) by the combined test between 11 +0 and 13 +6 weeks of pregnancy and the anomaly scan at around 20 weeks.…”

Maternal serum screening and psychosocial attachment to pregnancy

“…Identifying fetal anomaly allows prospective parents more reproductive control in that they have the option of terminating the pregnancy in the event of a diagnosis. Although amniocentesis can provide information that would enable parents to prepare in advance for the birth of a child with a disability, most women who receive a diagnosis do decide to terminate their pregnancy [24,25]. It is very likely that women who would not contemplate termination would choose not to undergo amniocentesis, thus resulting in the consistent finding that unfavorable attitudes toward abortion predict a decreased likelihood of using amniocentesis [26 -28].…”