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Previous Volume 349:1471-1473 October 9, 2003 Number 15 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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An increased risk of fetal Down's syndrome (trisomy 21) is the most common reason for offering prenatal genetic diagnosis. The chance of giving birth to a child with Down's syndrome increases throughout a woman's reproductive years. Since the 1970s, an age of 35 years at delivery has been used as the cutoff for offering amniocentesis for this indication in the United States. After this age, the risk of Down's syndrome rises rapidly and is thought to balance the risks of amniocentesis. Nondirective counseling enables couples to compare the risk and burden of Down's syndrome with the risks, accuracy, and limitations . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

From the Divisions of Reproductive Genetics (M.T.M., D.A.D.) and Maternal Fetal Medicine (M.T.M.), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

Related Letters:

First-Trimester Screening for Down's Syndrome
Wald N. J., Leporrier N., Leymarie P., Herrou M., Nicolaides K. H., Wapner R. J., the BUN Study Group , Mennuti M. T., Driscoll D. A.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2004; 350:619-621, Feb 5, 2004. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wald, N. J., Leporrier, N., Leymarie, P., Herrou, M., Nicolaides, K. H., Wapner, R. J., the BUN Study Group, , Mennuti, M. T., Driscoll, D. A. (2004). First-Trimester Screening for Down's Syndrome. NEJM 350: 619-621 [Full Text]  
• (2003). Earlier Screening for Fetal Chromosomal Anomalies. JWatch Women's Health 2003: 1-1 [Full Text]