London, Jan 12 (IANS) A blood test for Down’s syndrome could practically eliminate the need for invasive procedures, a study suggests.
The highly accurate test looks at the DNA of a pregnant woman to predict whether she is carrying a baby with the syndrome.
People with Down’s syndrome have three copies of chromosome number 21 rather than the usual two, the British Medical Journal reports.
Some of the common symptoms include decreased muscle tone at birth, an odd-shaped skull, round head with flat area at the back of the head, a small skull, slanting eyes and small mouth with a protruding tongue.
Current testing combines a blood test to check levels of some proteins and hormones with a scan to measure the space between the spine and the nape of the baby’s neck.
Babies with Down’s syndrome tend to have more fluid collecting in the neck than those developing normally, according to the Daily Mail.
The ‘false positive’ rate of these tests is around five percent, meaning one in 20 will be told they are carrying a Down’s baby when they are not.
If these women were given the DNA blood test instead, almost all invasive procedures could be avoided, according to experts.
