Authors : Edoghogho Tracy Lawal, Venessa Eseohe Oigbochie and Agbonluai Richard O. Ehimibgai
Abstract: Down’s syndrome is one of the commonest causes of mental retardation. It is associated with abnormal ductus venosus flow. We aimed to evaluate in a systematic review of the literatures available, the performance of screening for Down’s syndrome using ductus venosus assessment. Studies were got from medline, web of science and pubmed using the keywords above. We selected works that studied the diagnostic performance of ductus venosus for screening for Down’s syndrome and other foetal aneuploidies. About 20 studies were reviewed. About 9 studies worked on populations with high risk for Down’s syndrome. About 16 studies found the addition of ductus venosus assessment valuable in the screening for Down’s syndrome. Most studies however did not notice improvement in detection rate when ductus venosus was used alone. The best results were seen when ductus venosus was used alongside nuchal translucency. We concluded that the addition of ductus venosus to screening strategies for Down’s syndrome should be considered.
Edoghogho Tracy Lawal, Venessa Eseohe Oigbochie and Agbonluai Richard O. Ehimibgai, 2017. A Systematic Review of the Current Policies and Implementation of Screening for Foetal Abnormalities; the Use of Ductus Venosus Flow in Screening for Down’s Syndrome. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 12: 1270-1287.