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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Less Invasive Prenatal Tests

Aired December 16, 2003 - 08:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Three new less invasive prenatal tests can give parents an expectant parents an early indication of a possible birth defect.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta join us from the CNN Center with details.

Good morning, Sanjay. Nice to see you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, amniocentesis, that's the test people typically think of when they think of prenatal testing, usually done in the second trimester. There are other tests out there now as well. I want to talk about some of them. They are done earlier, they are less invasive, and they may be pretty accurate as well. Let's go through them quickly. Nuchal translucency, that is the first one. You can see the name there, nuchal translucency. Done in the first trimester. This is not very invasive, just an ultrasound, basically trying to measure swelling on the back of the fetus' neck. Why? Because more swelling equals a greater risk of abnormalities. This is about 80 percent, up to 80 percent accurate in some pretty small studies.

Another study as well out there, people talking about early prenatal screening, for preimplantation genetic diagnosis. What does that mean? That basically means for women undergoing in vitro fertilization, are there tests being done before implantation? The answer, yes, in fact, these tests are being done, the cells are being tested, extracted, and then subsequently, a decision is made by the parents as to how to proceed from there on. There is also one other test out there called a fibronectin tests. I know I'm throwing a lot of names at you. But these are basically three of the new prenatal screening tests. Fetal fibronectin, usually done at 20-28 weeks, much later obviously in a pregnancy. This is primarily done to basically determine if a woman is about to go into preterm labor, gives some sensitivity as to whether a woman will go into labor within the next seven days. This test has been a bit controversial, not as effective, not as accurate as some of the other tests, but certainly these tests are out there now.

Basically, the reason the tests exist, to try to give young parents, or parents, an idea of how to proceed. What's next? Also, to possibly correct any problems. Also in terms of preparation perhaps for a special needs child.

COOPER: Can you elaborate on that last one, the fetal fibronectin tests that you say was done between 28 and 26 weeks, to see if you're going to go into preterm labor, which of course is a really big problem for many of the infants that are born with numerous problems.

Question, exactly, how is that tests done, and how invasive is that particular test?

GUPTA: It's a blood test, Soledad. So it's not particularly invasive. But basically, the thought is this, if a woman's about to go into preterm labor, are there some activities, some things that start to happen, before preterm labor occurs? Such are there some proteins released into the blood? There seems to be some evidence that the answer that question is yes. The second step is, can you measure those proteins, to give a sense? The proteins go up before the preterm labor occurs, might you get an idea that's about to happen? That's basically the idea behind it. The reason that it's a bit controversial, is it's not that accurate, doesn't always seem to accurately predict. It's one of those things if you have a negative test, you have a pretty good idea you're not going into preterm labor. But if it's positive, it doesn't absolutely mean that you will.

COOPER: And of course many parents say that having the information doesn't necessarily mean that they would want to terminate their pregnancy at any stage. Many parents have said that it's better to know...

GUPTA: To be prepared, right, absolutely.

COOPER: Sanjay Gupta, thanks a lot, Sanjay, as always. Appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 16, 2003 - 08:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Three new less invasive prenatal tests can give parents an expectant parents an early indication of a possible birth defect.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta join us from the CNN Center with details.

Good morning, Sanjay. Nice to see you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, amniocentesis, that's the test people typically think of when they think of prenatal testing, usually done in the second trimester. There are other tests out there now as well. I want to talk about some of them. They are done earlier, they are less invasive, and they may be pretty accurate as well. Let's go through them quickly. Nuchal translucency, that is the first one. You can see the name there, nuchal translucency. Done in the first trimester. This is not very invasive, just an ultrasound, basically trying to measure swelling on the back of the fetus' neck. Why? Because more swelling equals a greater risk of abnormalities. This is about 80 percent, up to 80 percent accurate in some pretty small studies.

Another study as well out there, people talking about early prenatal screening, for preimplantation genetic diagnosis. What does that mean? That basically means for women undergoing in vitro fertilization, are there tests being done before implantation? The answer, yes, in fact, these tests are being done, the cells are being tested, extracted, and then subsequently, a decision is made by the parents as to how to proceed from there on. There is also one other test out there called a fibronectin tests. I know I'm throwing a lot of names at you. But these are basically three of the new prenatal screening tests. Fetal fibronectin, usually done at 20-28 weeks, much later obviously in a pregnancy. This is primarily done to basically determine if a woman is about to go into preterm labor, gives some sensitivity as to whether a woman will go into labor within the next seven days. This test has been a bit controversial, not as effective, not as accurate as some of the other tests, but certainly these tests are out there now.

Basically, the reason the tests exist, to try to give young parents, or parents, an idea of how to proceed. What's next? Also, to possibly correct any problems. Also in terms of preparation perhaps for a special needs child.

COOPER: Can you elaborate on that last one, the fetal fibronectin tests that you say was done between 28 and 26 weeks, to see if you're going to go into preterm labor, which of course is a really big problem for many of the infants that are born with numerous problems.

Question, exactly, how is that tests done, and how invasive is that particular test?

GUPTA: It's a blood test, Soledad. So it's not particularly invasive. But basically, the thought is this, if a woman's about to go into preterm labor, are there some activities, some things that start to happen, before preterm labor occurs? Such are there some proteins released into the blood? There seems to be some evidence that the answer that question is yes. The second step is, can you measure those proteins, to give a sense? The proteins go up before the preterm labor occurs, might you get an idea that's about to happen? That's basically the idea behind it. The reason that it's a bit controversial, is it's not that accurate, doesn't always seem to accurately predict. It's one of those things if you have a negative test, you have a pretty good idea you're not going into preterm labor. But if it's positive, it doesn't absolutely mean that you will.

COOPER: And of course many parents say that having the information doesn't necessarily mean that they would want to terminate their pregnancy at any stage. Many parents have said that it's better to know...

GUPTA: To be prepared, right, absolutely.

COOPER: Sanjay Gupta, thanks a lot, Sanjay, as always. Appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com