Prenatal Testing for Aneuploidy: Out with the Old, In with (Less of) the New

Options for antenatal aneuploidy screening have changed greatly, ranging from the expansion of second-trimester analytes to the shift to the first trimester of effective screening with ultrasound and serum evaluation (JW Womens Health Oct 20 2011). In parallel, a policy change has taken place to recommend invasive testing to all pregnant women regardless of age. Investigators in a large healthcare system in northern California studied the effects of these policy changes on frequency of test utilization from 2006 (when only women aged ≥35 were offered invasive diagnostic testing, and the only option for younger women was second-trimester triple screening) through 2010 (after the recommendation that diagnostic testing be universally offered, …