What does early Down syndrome screening detect?

The development of modern medical technology has enabled people to know the conditions of various diseases in advance and provide timely treatment methods. For example, various medical examinations during pregnancy are indispensable. For example, Down syndrome is a very serious disease, but it can be diagnosed through early screening, providing a more important reference basis for solving the problem. Let’s take a look at what early Down syndrome screening checks for?

Down syndrome screening is the abbreviation for prenatal screening test for Down syndrome. The purpose is to test the blood of pregnant women to detect the concentrations of alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin and free estriol in the maternal serum, and to determine the risk factor of the fetus suffering from congenital idiocy and neural tube defects based on the age, weight, gestational age of the pregnant woman.

Down syndrome is the product of Down syndrome. Most children with Down syndrome have severe intellectual disabilities and lower intelligence than normal people, so Down syndrome is also called congenital idiocy. It is also accompanied by other physical problems. Nearly half of the patients also have complex congenital heart disease, severe internal organ malformations, leukemia and other diseases.

Down syndrome screening time

In the early days when medical technology was not well developed, pregnant women could only know what kind of child they were going to give birth to after giving birth. The rate of birth defects was very high in that era. Now people advocate eugenics, and B-ultrasound technology allows people to estimate the fetal malformation rate during pregnancy. When pregnant mothers learn that their fetus may have malformations, they can choose whether to give birth to the child. Children with Down syndrome can also undergo screening tests.

During regular prenatal checkups, the doctor will arrange a series of examinations based on the pregnancy stage of the pregnant woman. Down syndrome screening will be scheduled between the 15th and 20th weeks. The examination report can be obtained within one week after the blood test. If the risk factor for Down syndrome is relatively high, further amniocentesis will be performed. Only after checking the chromosomes of the fetus will it be clear whether the fetus has Down syndrome.