Tomohiro Tanemoto

Current status of non‐invasive prenatal testing in Japan

The purpose of this study was to report the 3‐year experience of a nationwide demonstration project to introduce non‐invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) of maternal plasma for aneuploidy, and review the current status of NIPT in Japan.

Significance of oligohydramnios in preterm small-for-gestational-age infants for outcome at 18 months of age

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between oligohydramnios and other perinatal factors in preterm small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA) infants who had cerebral palsy at 18 months of age or who had died before this age.

Fetal cell-free DNA fraction in maternal plasma for the prediction of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to compare the fetal fractions during non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in singleton pregnancies according to gestational age and maternal characteristics to evaluate the utility of this parameter for the prediction of pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). STUDY DESIGN This study was a multicenter prospective cohort study. The present data were collected from women whose NIPT results were negative. The relationships between the fetal fractions and the gestational age, maternal weight and height, and incidences of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and pregnancy complications including GDM, HDP and placental abruption were assessed. RESULTS A total of 5582 pregnant women with verified NIPT negative results were registered in the study. The demographic characteristics of the study populations were statistically analyzed, and the women with HDP tended to have a low fetal fraction in samples taken during early gestation. The area under the curve (AUC) in a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was 0.608 for women with HDP. CONCLUSION A low fetal fraction on NIPT might be correlated with future HDP. However, predicting HDP during early pregnancy in women with a low fetal fraction might be difficult.