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Abstract Exploring efficient and easily implementable prenatal screening strategies aims at birth defect prevention and control. However, there have been limited economic evaluations of non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) strategies in China. Furthermore, these studies were predominantly confined to local or geographically proximate provinces and lacked universality and representativeness. This study assesses the health economics of current prenatal screening strategies and NIPS as first-line screening programs, analyzing their efficacy to determine an optimal strategy. From the perspective of health economics, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and single-factor sensitivity were conducted for five different screening strategies using a decision tree model. Among pregnant women aged

Abstract Background Pathogenic (P) copy number variants (CNVs) may be associated with second-trimester ultrasound soft markers (USMs), and noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) can enable interrogate the entire fetal genome to screening of fetal CNVs. This study evaluated the clinical application of NIPS for detecting CNVs among fetuses with USMs in pregnant women not of advanced maternal age (AMA). Results Fetal aneuploidies and CNVs were identified in 6647 pregnant women using the Berry Genomics NIPS algorithm.Those with positive NIPS results underwent amniocentesis for prenatal diagnosis. The NIPS and prenatal diagnosis results were analyzed and compared among different USMs. A total of 96 pregnancies were scored positive for fetal chromosome anomalies, comprising 37 aneuploidies and 59 CNVs. Positive predictive values (PPVs) for trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13, and sex chromosome aneuploidies were 66.67%, 80.00%, 0%, and 30.43%, respectively. NIPS sensitivity for aneuploidies was 100%. For CNVs, the PPVs were calculated as 35.59% and false positive rate of 0.57%. There were six P CNVs, two successfully identified by NIPS and four missed, of which three were below the NIPS resolution limit and one false negative. The incidence of aneuploidies was significantly higher in fetuses with absent or hypoplastic nasal bone, while that of P CNVs was significantly higher in fetuses with aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA), compared with other groups. Conclusions NIPS yielded a moderate PPV for CNVs in non-AMA pregnant women with fetal USM. However, NIPS showed limited ability in identifying P CNVs. Positive NIPS results for CNVs emphasize the need for further prenatal diagnosis. We do not recommend the use of NIPS for CNVs screening in non-AMA pregnant women with fetal USM, especially in fetuses with ARSA.

ObjectiveCell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a useful biomarker in various clinical contexts. Herein, we aimed to identify maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes associated with a failed NIPS test due to high cfDNA concentrations.MethodsA retrospective study of cases with high plasma cfDNA concentration in pregnant women in which NIPS test was performed (from 174,318 cases). We reported the detection of 126 cases (118 with complete clinical information) in which the high amount of cfDNA did not allow the performance of NIPS and study the possible causes of this result.Results622 (0.35%) of 174,318 pregnant women had failed the NIPS test, including 126 (20.3%) cases with high plasma cfDNA concentrations. The failed NIPS due to high plasma cfDNA concentrations was associated with maternal diseases and treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). Further follow-up of the 118 pregnant women in the case group revealed that the pregnancy outcomes included 31 premature deliveries, 21 abortions. The cfDNA concentrations of pregnant women with preterm deliveries were 1.15 (0.89, 1.84), which differed significantly from those who had full-term deliveries.ConclusionsAmong pregnant women with high cfDNA concentrations, systemic autoimmune diseases, pregnancy complications and LMWH were associated with increased incidence of failed NIPS test. High maternal cfDNA concentrations may not be associated with chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus. However, they should be alerted to the possibility of preterm births and stillbirths. Further clinical studies on pregnant women with high cfDNA concentrations are required.

BackgroundGenetic factors are important causes of birth defects. Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) is widely used for prenatal screening of trisomy 21, trisomy 18, and trisomy 13, which are the three most common fetal aneuploidies. Fetal fraction refers to the proportion of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma, which can influence the accuracy of NIPS. Elucidating the factors that influence fetal fraction can provide guidance for the interpretation of NIPS results and genetic counseling. However, there is currently no broad consensus on the known factors that influence fetal fraction.ObjectiveThe study aimed to explore the maternal and fetal factors influencing fetal fraction.MethodsA total of 153,306 singleton pregnant women who underwent NIPS were included. Data on gestational age; maternal age; body mass index (BMI); z-scores for chromosomes 21, 18, and 13; and fetal fraction in NIPS were collected from the study population, and the relationships between fetal fraction and these factors were examined. The relationship between fetal fraction and different fetal trisomy types was also analyzed.ResultsThe results showed that the median gestational age, maternal age, and BMI of the pregnant women were 18 (16, 20) weeks, 29 (25, 32) years, and 22.19 (20.40, 24.24) kg/m2, respectively. The median fetal fraction was 11.62 (8.96, 14.7)%. Fetal fraction increased with gestational age and decreased with maternal age and BMI (P

A paradigm shift in noninvasive prenatal screening has been made with the discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Noninvasive prenatal screening is primarily used to screen for fetal aneuploidies, and has been used globally. Fetal fraction, an important parameter in the analysis of noninvasive prenatal screening results, is the proportion of fetal cell-free DNA present in the total maternal plasma cell-free DNA. It combines biological factors and bioinformatics algorithms to interpret noninvasive prenatal screening results and is an integral part of quality control. Maternal and fetal factors may influence fetal fraction. To date, there is no broad consensus on the factors that affect fetal fraction. There are many different approaches to evaluate this parameter, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Different fetal fraction calculation methods may be used in different testing platforms or laboratories. This review includes numerous publications that focused on the understanding of the significance, influencing factors, and interpretation of fetal fraction to provide a deeper understanding of this parameter.

Background: This study aims to evaluate prenatal diagnosis methods following positive noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) results.Methods: According to the positive noninvasive prenatal screening results, 926 pregnant women were divided into three groups: main target disease group (high risk for trisomy 21, trisomy 18, or trisomy 13), sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) group, and other chromosomal abnormalities group [abnormal Z-scores for chromosomes other than trisomy (T)21/T18/T13 or SCAs]. The verification methods and results were then retrospectively analysed.Results: In the main target disease group, the positive rate of chromosomal abnormalities confirmed by quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) was 75.18% (212/282), which was not significantly different from that by karyotyping (79.36%, 173/218) and copy number variation (CNV) detection methods (71.43%, 65/91). The positive rate of additional findings confirmed by karyotyping and copy number variation detection methods in main target disease group was 0.46% (1/218) and 8.79% (8/91), respectively. The positive rate of chromosomal abnormalities confirmed by karyotyping and CNV detection methods were 27.11% (45/166) and 38.46% (95/247) in the SCA group and 4.17% (1/24) and 20% (36/180) in the other chromosomal abnormalities group, respectively. Fetal sex chromosome mosaicism was detected in 16.13% (20/124) of the confirmed SCA cases. There were no significant differences in the detection rates of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and CNV sequencing (CNVseq) among the three groups (p > 0.05).Conclusion: QF-PCR can quickly and accurately identify aneuploidies following NIPS-positive results for common aneuploidy, and in combination with karyotyping and CNV detection techniques can provide more comprehensive results. With the NIPS-positive results for SCA or other abnormalities, CMA and CNVseq may have the same effect on increasing the detection rate. The addition of fluorescence in situ hybridization assay may help to identify true fetal mosaicism.

Background: We aimed to assess the clinical application of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) based on second-trimester ultrasonographic soft markers (USMs) in low-risk pregnant women.Methods: Data of pregnant women between April 2015 and December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Pregnant women [age at expected date of confinement (EDC) of

BackgroundOur aim was to provide a theoretical basis for clinicians to conduct genetic counseling and choose further prenatal diagnosis methods for pregnant women who failed non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS).MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on pregnant women who had failed NIPS tests.ResultsAmong the 123,291 samples, 394 pregnant women did not obtain valid results due to test failures. A total of 378 pregnant women were available for follow-up, while 16 patients were lost to follow-up. Of these 378, 135 pregnant women chose further prenatal diagnosis through amniocentesis, and one case of dysplasia was recalled for postpartum chromosome testing. The incidence rate of congenital chromosomal abnormalities in those who failed the NIPS was 3.97% (15/378), which was higher than that of the chromosomal abnormalities in the common population (1.8%). Among the pregnant women who received prenatal diagnosis, the positive rates of chromosomal abnormalities in the chromosomal microarray analysis/copy number variation sequencing (CMA/CNV-seq) group and in the karyotyping group were 15.28 and 4.76%, respectively.ConclusionPrenatal diagnosis should be strongly recommended in posttest genetic counseling for pregnant women with NIPS failures. Further, high-resolution detection methods should be recommended for additional prenatal diagnoses.

As the material transportation system of the human body, the vascular network carries the transportation of materials and nutrients. Currently, the construction of functional microvascular networks is an urgent requirement for the development of regenerative medicine and in vitro drug screening systems. How to construct organs with functional blood vessels is the focus and challenge of tissue engineering research. Here in this review article, we first introduced the basic characteristics of blood vessels in the body and the mechanism of angiogenesis in vivo, summarized the current methods of constructing tissue blood vessels in vitro and in vivo, and focused on comparing the functions, applications and advantages of constructing different types of vascular chips to generate blood vessels. Finally, the challenges and opportunities faced by the development of this field were discussed.