Patient's question:
What is Down syndrome, what are the risks, and how should it be treated?Doctor's answer:
Down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, refers to a condition where a patient has an extra chromosome in the 21st pair (while the normal number is one pair). Down syndrome screening is performed by measuring the levels of AFP and HCG in a pregnant woman's serum, combined with her age, weight, and gestational age to calculate the risk value. The critical value is 1/275. A value greater than this indicates a high risk, while a value lower than this indicates a low risk. The probability of having Down syndrome (DS) in the general population (under 37 years old) is 1/750.Down screen test is the abbreviation for prenatal screening for Down syndrome. The purpose of this test is to determine the risk level of the fetus having Down syndrome by examining the pregnant woman's blood. If the down screen test results show a high risk of the fetus having Down syndrome, further diagnostic tests such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling should be conducted. The test results are approximate and can only be used to assess the risk level, not as an absolute diagnosis. Such tests can help reduce some psychological concerns.