NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - PCR-based maternal serum analysis is an accurate, noninvasive method of determining fetal RhD genotype, according to a French report. The authors believe that this assay “could be systematically proposed to all RhD-negative pregnant women in order to more effectively utilize RhD prophylaxis.”
The findings, reported in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, are based on a study of 285 pregnant women who underwent PCR-based fetal RhD genotyping.
Dr. Jean-Marc Costa, from the American Hospital of Paris, and colleagues were able to determine the fetal RhD status in 283 of the women. In the remaining two cases, the status could not be determined because the RhD-negative phenotype in the mother was not associated with complete RHD gene deletion.
PCR results were compared with serologic RhD typing of the infants. In the evaluable patients, the assay was 100% accurate in determining fetal RhD, the investigators report.
In a related editorial, Dr. Kenneth J. Moise, from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, comments that “routine fetal typing in all RhD-negative, unsensitized pregnant women could eliminate the need for antenatal Rhesus immune globulin in cases of an RhD-negative fetus.”
He adds that with automated technology, such testing is “estimated to cost less than one third that of Rhesus immune globulin.”
Source: Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005;192:663-669. [ Google search on this article ]
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
