Patient's question:
I am already considered elderly in age, so I have always paid close attention to physical check-ups and been concerned about the development of the fetus. I am particularly worried about abnormalities. Can non-invasive DNA testing detect fetal abnormalities?Doctor's answer:
Non-invasive DNA testing is performed by drawing the pregnant woman's venous blood to screen for Down syndrome. It can detect whether the fetus has congenital hypothyroidism, but cannot screen for all types of malformations. After undergoing non-invasive DNA screening, if the fetus is healthy, a four-dimensional color Doppler ultrasound for anomaly screening must still be performed between the 22nd and 26th weeks of pregnancy. The main purpose of this test is to check for chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, and some malformations can be detected through this examination.