Test Mom for Fetal DNA and Save an Anti-RhD Ig Shot

Fetal RhD genotyping from maternal plasma would substantially reduce unnecessary administration of anti-RhD immunoglobulin to RhD-negative women with RhD-negative fetuses.

Standard obstetric care for RhD-negative pregnant women includes administering anti-RhD immunoglobulin (Ig) antenatally and after delivery of RhD-positive infants to avoid alloimmunization and potential fetal hemolytic anemia in subsequent pregnancies. The most immunogenic of the Rh antigens, RhD, is encoded by the gene RHD. Tests for predicting fetal RhD status involve amplifying one or more regions of RHD to determine whether and in what form the gene is present. In a study of predominantly white women, approximately 38% of RhD-negative women carried RhD-negative fetuses and thus would receive anti-RhD Ig unnecessarily.

Now, investigators have performed high-throughput RHD genotyping of fetal DNA in plasma from 1997 pregnant women (mean ge…

Reviewing Author

Wendy S. Biggs, MD

Test Mom for Fetal DNA and Save an Anti-RhD Ig Shot

Topics

Reviewing Author