A new study sets the stage for wider use of gene testing in early pregnancy. Scanning the genes of a fetus reveals far more about potential health risks than current prenatal testing does, say researchers who compared both methods in thousands of pregnancies nationwide.
A surprisingly high number -- 6 percent -- of certain fetuses declared normal by conventional testing were found to have genetic abnormalities by gene scans, the study found.
The flaws can cause anything from minor defects such as a clubfoot to more serious ones such as mental retardation and heart problems.
"This isn't done just so people can terminate pregnancies," because many choose to continue them even if a problem is found, said Dr. Ronald Wapner, reproductive genetics chief at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "We're better able to give lots and lots of women more information about what's causing the problem and what the prognosis is and what special care their child might need."
He led the federally funded study, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
A second study in the journal found that gene testing could reveal the cause of most stillbirths, many of which remain a mystery.
The prenatal study of 4,400 women has long been awaited and could make gene testing a standard of care in cases where initial screening with an ultrasound exam suggests a defect in how the baby is developing, said Dr. Susan Klugman, director of reproductive genetics at New York's Montefiore Medical Center, which enrolled 300 women in the study.
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