OBJECTIVES: To present the current status of the prenatal diagnosis services and results from the largest thalassaemia center in Egypt treating 3000 patients. Traditionally, prenatal diagnosis has not been successful in reducing the births of affected children in Egypt, because the majority of women undergoing prenatal diagnosis continued to have affected pregnancies. METHODS: Seventy-one pregnant mothers at risk for β-thalassaemia underwent prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling (n=57) or amniocentesis (n=14) between 11 to 14 weeks of gestation. Molecular characterization of fetal DNA by reverse dot blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction-amplification refractory mutation system techniques was conducted in all cases. RESULTS: Twenty-four women (33.8%) were found to have affected fetuses; 100% of these women opted to terminate the pregnancy. The change in attitude towards termination of pregnancy was related to in-depth counseling of the religious aspects towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy. Forty-eight women (66.2%) with normal or carrier fetuses for β-thal requested human leukocyte antigen typing of the fetal material to determine if the fetus was a human leukocyte antigen match for their existing thalassaemic siblings. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that prenatal diagnosis is feasible and acceptable in Egypt, a Muslim country, provided an in-depth discussion, which also addresses the religious considerations of prevention, is held with the couples.
OBJECTIVES: To present the current status of the prenatal diagnosis services and results from the largest thalassaemia center in Egypt treating 3000 patients. Traditionally, prenatal diagnosis has not been successful in reducing the births of affected children in Egypt, because the majority of women undergoing prenatal diagnosis continued to have affected pregnancies. METHODS: Seventy-one pregnant mothers at risk for β-thalassaemia underwent prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling (n=57) or amniocentesis (n=14) between 11 to 14 weeks of gestation. Molecular characterization of fetal DNA by reverse dot blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction-amplification refractory mutation system techniques was conducted in all cases. RESULTS: Twenty-four women (33.8%) were found to have affected fetuses; 100% of these women opted to terminate the pregnancy. The change in attitude towards termination of pregnancy was related to in-depth counseling of the religious aspects towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy. Forty-eight women (66.2%) with normal or carrier fetuses for β-thal requested human leukocyte antigen typing of the fetal material to determine if the fetus was a human leukocyte antigen match for their existing thalassaemic siblings. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that prenatal diagnosis is feasible and acceptable in Egypt, a Muslim country, provided an in-depth discussion, which also addresses the religious considerations of prevention, is held with the couples.
Authors: Rabab E El Hawary; Safa S Meshaal; Dalia S Abd Elaziz; Marwa A Elsharkawy; Radwa S Alkady; Sohilla Lotfy; Ahmad El-Sheikhah; Amr Hassan; Nermeen M Galal; Jeannette A Boutros; Aisha M Elmarsafy Journal: Mol Diagn Ther Date: 2017-12 Impact factor: 4.074
Authors: Konstantinos Mitropoulos; Hayat Al Jaibeji; Diego A Forero; Paul Laissue; Ambroise Wonkam; Catalina Lopez-Correa; Zahurin Mohamed; Wasun Chantratita; Ming Ta Michael Lee; Adrian Llerena; Angela Brand; Bassam R Ali; George P Patrinos Journal: Hum Genomics Date: 2015-06-18 Impact factor: 4.639
Authors: Janneke T Gitsels-van der Wal; Judith Manniën; Lisanne A Gitsels; Hans S Reinders; Pieternel S Verhoeven; Mohammed M Ghaly; Trudy Klomp; Eileen K Hutton Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2014-07-19 Impact factor: 3.007