Intrauterine fetal diagnosis for hematologic and other congenital disorders.

Overview

Advances in prenatal diagnostic techniques allow for earlier, more rapid, and more effective detection of congenital disorders. The indications, diagnostic accuracy, and risks for invasive diagnostic techniques including amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and fetal blood sampling are reviewed. Recent advances in non-invasive detection methods, such as fetal ultrasound and the isolation of fetal cells in the maternal circulation are discussed. Additionally, the intrauterine diagnosis of congenital infections and chromosomal and Mendelian disorders, as well as hematologic disorders are summarized.