Search

The determination of the fetal RhD blood group is essential for the prevention of haemolytic disease of the newborn; prenatally it can be determined by genotyping fetal DNA. The advantage of fetal RHD genotype determination from maternal plasma compared to classical fetal sampling is enormous, since there is no risk for either the mother or the fetus. In the last few years, sensitive methods such us qPCR, have been developed. In our study, the newly developed qPCR assay was used and a new pre-analytical step was included to improve the robustness of the test and the reliability of the results. This pertains especially to the determination of the fetal RHD status in early pregnancy when the amount of cell-free fetal DNA in the mother΄s blood is extremely low. The new pre-analytical step increased 512-fold the amount of detected cell free DNA and cell free fetal DNA from maternal plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]