What does amniocentesis mean?

Many women will undergo amniocentesis during prenatal checkups during pregnancy, but they do not understand it. In fact, the main purpose of amniocentesis is to understand and diagnose congenital diseases and neural tube defects of the fetus.

1. Amniocentesis, also known as "amniocentesis", is one of the prenatal examination items. It obtains information about the health and development of the fetus by drawing a sample of amniotic fluid from the pregnant woman. Amniocentesis has been widely used in prenatal diagnosis for more than 40 years. Prenatal diagnosis through amniocentesis has become an integral part of modern obstetrics and is currently the most commonly used prenatal diagnosis technology in my country.

2. Purpose of amniocentesis:

1. Diagnosis of fetal congenital diseases

Cultivating amniotic fluid cells or extracting amniotic fluid cell DNA can be used for genetic diagnosis, such as diagnosing fetal chromosomal diseases, single gene diseases, etc.

2. Diagnosis of fetal metabolic diseases

For some metabolic diseases that cannot be diagnosed through genes, intrauterine diagnosis can be performed by measuring the concentration of related enzymes in amniotic fluid.

3. Fetal neural tube defects

The determination of alpha-fetoprotein and acetylcholine esterase in amniotic fluid can be used to diagnose open neural tube defects in the fetus (mainly including anencephaly and spina bifida).

4. Detection of fetal lung maturity

Measuring the ratio of phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin in amniotic fluid can help determine whether the fetal lungs are mature and help choose the timing of termination of pregnancy.

5. Diagnosis of intra-amniotic infection

Cultivation of amniotic fluid or measurement of inflammatory factors can help diagnose the presence or absence of intra-amniotic infection.