Trends in prenatal diagnosis

Abstract

Prenatal diagnosis is one of the most rapidly expanding areas in medicine and now forms a significant part of Fetal Medicine subspecialization. With the introduction of new technologies in the areas of human genetics, fetal therapy and fetal pathology, those interested must work hard to keep abreast of the latest advances. General obstetricians and those involved in pregnancy counselling must now be aware of all diseases which can be transmitted and for which prenatal diagnosis and screening tests are available and appropriate. There is a plethora of reviews of current techniques and procedures and it would be repetitive for us to produce another such paper. Rather, this article aims to highlight those areas which by definition are changing and where we see future developments occurring. Those readers seeking in depth reviews of present methods are referred to standard texts.