Efficiency of Non-invasive Prenatal Screening in Pregnant Women at Advanced Maternal Age

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the efficiency of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) in the prenatal screening for fetal aneuploidies in pregnant women at advanced maternal age (AMA). Results: From February 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018, 29,443 pregnant women at AMA underwent NIPS and followed-up were recruited. Their detailed clinical data and follow-up outcomes were collected and analyzed. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) of NIPS for detecting fetal trisomy 21 were 99.11%, 99.96%, 90.98%, and 100%, respectively. These same parameters for detecting fetal trisomy 18 were 100%, 99.94%, 67.92%, and 100%, respectively. Finally, these parameters for detecting trisomy 13 were 100%, 99.96%, 27.78%, and 100%, respectively. The prevalence of fetal trisomy 21 increased with maternal age. There were significant differences in the prevalence of fetal trisomy 21 among the groups I (35-37-year-old), II (38-40-year-old) and III (41-year-old and older) ( P <0.05). Conclusion: It is indicated that NIPS is an effective prenatal screening method in pregnant women at AMA. Keywords: Advanced maternal age, Trisomy, Noninvasive prenatal screening, Fetal aneuploidies , Prenatal screening method