WHAT IS A PRENATEST?
A prenatest is a genetic test that uses blood from the pregnant woman to detect the presence of the most common genetic abnormalities in the fetus.
Prenatest is a non-invasive test, which means that it examines fetal DNA without puncturing the mother's abdomen and putting the pregnant woman or baby at risk. This is possible due to the fact that the baby's DNA circulates freely in the pregnant woman's blood. Therefore, 20 ml of venous blood from the expectant mother is quite sufficient to detect the absence or presence of Down, Patau and Edwards syndromes (trisomies on chromosomes 21, 13 and 18), as well as sex chromosome defects - Turner and Kleinfelter syndromes and trisomies X and XU in the fetus. Prenatest is absolutely safe for mother and baby.
WHEN, WITH WHAT ACCURACY AND WHERE IS THE RETEST DONE?
The test can be done as early as in the 9th gestational week, and the recommended upper limit for doing it is 20 gestational weeks.
The test accuracy is over 99.8 % for Down syndrome, about 96% for Edwards and Patau syndromes and about 84% for sex chromosome abnormalities.
Blood samples are analyzed by next-generation sequencing in a certified laboratory - LifeCodexx in Konstanz, Germany. Prenatest uses specialized DNA analysis kits with vacutainers in which the blood sample can be stored for up to 72 hours.
Blood samples for PreNatest from Bulgaria arrive at LifeCodexx - Konstanz, Germany within a maximum of 24 hours after sampling, travelling with a licensed carrier for the transport of biological material under the international code UN3373 by air.[
TO WHOM IS THE PRENATEST APPLICABLE?
The test is suitable both for women with an increased risk of pregnancy (even if there are no other indications, every woman over 35 is already at risk of pregnancy) and for women with normal indicators. Prenatest is also applicable to multiple pregnancies and can be used after In Vitro procedures, egg donation and other therapeutic methods of assisted reproductive technologies[.
TIME LIMITS AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING THE RESULTS OF THE RETEST
You can get your results Express in 6 business days or Standard in 10 business days.
Test results will be provided to you via email and phone call by your supervising physician or a GMPMP NM Genomics employee. You will also receive a personal written interpretation of your results in English, prepared by a medical geneticist. Prenatest works with the National Genetics Laboratory as well as prominent geneticists from around the country. If requested by the patient, results will also be sent by courier to the exact address provided by the patient.
Prenatest also establishes the sex of the baby. If the patient wishes, this information can be withheld.
IMPORTANT DEVIATIONS FROM THE RULE
Sometimes false-positive results are possible. These are around 0.14% and it is normal to have these. Reasons for false-positive results are placental mosaicism (trisomy of the placenta itself, not the baby), vanishing twin syndrome, etc. These 0.14 % are the reason why, when a positive test result is obtained, the GPSMP NM Genomics recommends and facilitates an invasive diagnostic method (amniocentesis or chorionic biopsy) to confirm the result. These methods, despite their serious risks, are the only diagnostic tools in Bulgaria and are necessary to proceed to fetal reduction for medical reasons if the pregnant woman so wishes. The role of Prenatest is to reduce unnecessary amniocenteses and it reduces them by up to 70%.
Due to the nature of the study and the fact that it is impossible to give a 100% guarantee in biological studies, we advise that statistically there is a 0.2 % probability of a false negative result. So far, there has not been a false negative result in the entire activity of Prenatest in Bulgaria. Because of this, albeit minimal, probability, GPSMP NM Genomics recommends responsible pregnancy follow-up after the Prenatest has been performed [For more information, you can call +359895770869.
