NTD Laboratories, Inc.
403 Oakwood Road
Huntington Station, NY 11746
Phone: 1.888.NTDLABS (683.5227)
ntdlabs@perkinelmer.com
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NTD Laboratories, Inc.
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ACOG
Committee Opinion
July 2004
Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A tends to be decreased and free Beta hCG tends to be increased in Down syndrome. The detection rate with first-trimester biochemical screening is similar to second-trimester screening, approximately 60% with a positive screening rate of 5%. A multicenter study of 8,514 patients with singleton pregnancies in the United States demonstrates that combining first-trimester maternal serum secreening markers with nuchal translucency measurement is a good alternative to second trimester screening.
March 1, 2004
The First and Second Trimester Evaluation of Risk (FASTER) trial involved about 38.000 pregnant women at 15 centers who underwent combined first-trimester screening with nuchal translucency measurement and serum testing for the biochemical markers pregnancy-associated plasma protein a (PAPP_A) and free B-HCG.
Monday, January 20, 2004
The first-trimester screen has taken off since a New England Journal of Medicine in October found the test diagnoses 85% of Down Syndrome pregnancies-making it much more accurate than the standard triple screen. The volume of first-trimester tests has doubled over the past year, says David Krantz, a scientist at NTD Laboratories, Inc. of Huntington Station, N.Y., which says it is the only laboratory offering the test nationally. NTD declines to give the exact number of women gettng the test. About 80 hospitals and 53 private centers in the U.S. now offer it, Dr. Krantz says. And insurers increasingly cover the procedure, which takes 20 minutes and costs $200 to $300. An amnio can cost $600 to more than $1,000.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
A new combination of blood tests and ultrasound can detect fetuses with Down Syndrome sooner and more accurately than standard US screening tests, offering mothers-to-be more peace of mind and more time to decide whether to end a pregnancy, researchers say.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
The new screen helps get the agony of decision making over earlier. "In five years, I have no doubt that this form will be the predominant form of diagnosis and screening" says Mark Evans, director of the institute for Genetics and Fetal Medicine at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York.
The new first-trimester screen also sharply reduces reliance on age as a predictor of Down Syndrome risk. Most obstetricians recommend that all pregnant women over 35 years old undergo amnio. By giving each ~woman an individual risk assessment based only in part on her age:-the new test will allow many older women to avoid an unnecessary amnio. The new screening: also will alert many women under 35 that they are at high risk.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
"It's earlier by about a month, so we've moved the standard testing to the first trimester and improved its accuracy," said lead researcher Dr. Ronald Wapner, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. "The-absolute biggest advantage is this allows women to make private decisions" before they are visibly pregnant.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
A new combination of blood tests and ultrasound can detect fetuses with Down Syndrome sooner and more accurately than standard U.S. screening tests, researchers report in a study published today.
The study of 8,216 women at a dozen U.S. medical centers confirms findings in England and elsewhere, where the combination is already widely used.
January 2004
A new, more accurate test that can be done nearly a month earlier than standard screenings for Down Syndrome may help many pregnant women over 35 avoid more invasive procedures, says a new study from Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Tuesday, February 10, 1998
A new screening procedure for the earlier detection of-Down Syndrome and other birth defects, developed by a- Long Island company, is beginning to be tested at-hospital-centers across the country.
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