Questions

Down syndrome screening is a test that involves taking a pregnant woman’s serum to detect the concentration of alpha-fetoprotein and chorionic gonadotropin in her maternal serum, and combines her due date, age, weight, and gestational age at the time of blood collection to calculate the risk coefficient for giving birth to a Down syndrome child. The best time to conduct the screening is between the 15th and 20th week of pregnancy. Generally, pregnant women can receive the screening results within one week after blood collection. If the results show a high risk, there is no need to panic as further amniocentesis and fetal chromosome testing are required for an accurate diagnosis. Children with Down syndrome have severe intellectual disabilities, cannot take care of themselves, and are accompanied by complex cardiovascular diseases. They require long-term care from family members, which can impose a significant emotional and financial burden on the family. By detecting the concentration of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in maternal serum, combined with the pregnant woman’s due date, age, and gestational age at the time of blood collection, the risk coefficient for a “Down syndrome child” can be calculated, allowing for the detection of 80% of Down syndrome cases. Down syndrome is also known as trisomy 21, which means that patients have an extra chromosome 21 (normal people have one pair). Down syndrome screening calculates the risk value based on the levels of AFP and HCG in the pregnant woman’s serum, combined with her age, weight, and gestational age. The critical value is 1/275. A value greater than this is considered high risk, while a value lower than this is considered low risk. The incidence rate of Down syndrome (DS) in the general population (under 37 years old) is 1/750. The term “Down screening” is an abbreviation for prenatal screening for Down syndrome. The purpose is to determine the risk level of fetal Down syndrome by analyzing the pregnant woman’s blood. If the Down screening result shows that the fetus…