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Prenatal diagnostic testing of amniotic fluid, chorionic villi, or more rarely, fetal cord blood is recommended following a positive or unreportable noninvasive cell-free fetal DNA test, abnormal maternal biochemical serum screen, abnormal ultrasound, or increased genetic risk for a cytogenomic abnormality based on family history. Although chromosomal microarray is recommended as the first-tier prenatal diagnostic test, in practice, multiple assays are often assessed in concert to achieve a final diagnostic result. The use of multiple methodologies is costly, time consuming, and labor intensive. Optical genome mapping (OGM) is an emerging technique with application for prenatal diagnosis because of its ability to detect and resolve, in a single assay, all classes of pathogenic cytogenomic aberrations. In an effort to characterize the potential of OGM as a novel alternative to traditional standard of care (SOC) testing of prenatal samples, OGM was performed on a total of 200 samples representing 123 unique cases, which were previously tested with SOC methods (92/123 = 74.7% cases tested with at least two SOCs). OGM demonstrated an overall accuracy of 99.6% when compared with SOC methods, a positive predictive value of 100%, and 100% reproducibility between sites, operators, and instruments. The standardized workflow, cost-effectiveness, and high-resolution cytogenomic analysis demonstrate the potential of OGM to serve as a first-tier test for prenatal diagnosis., Competing Interests: Disclosure Statement R.E.S. is a consultant of Bionano; R.K. has received honoraria and/or travel funding and/or research support from Illumina, Bionano, Agena, and PGDx. F.B. was an employee of Quest Diagnostics at the time of this work., (Copyright © 2024 Association for Molecular Pathology and American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The proportion of the U.S. population over 65 is growing and getting older, and the trend is expected to heighten in the early years of the 21st century.

Planning for the long-term care and support of the elderly is uncoordinated. Although several agenices are charged with the planning role, the Health Systems Agency (HSA) has emerged as the major planning unit. Long-term care planning is currently based on skilled nursing facility (SNF) utilization rates. This limited focus is inappropriate and the data are inconclusive. Population-based data, including levels of functioning, age, and living arrangements of those in need of extended support would provide a more useful approach. Sources for such information are suggested. The HSA should commit itself to population-based planning with special consideration of the mental health needs of the SNF residents, and the function of nursing home auspice. All types of health and social services should be taken into account in planning a system for long-term care and support.

A rapid procedure for the separation of phospholipids of lung tissue into acidic and nonacidic fractions by means of diethylaminoethyl cellulose acetate microcolumns is described. The fractions are then resolved into individual phospholipids by thin-layer chromatography and quantified by transmission densitometry.