CAN NUCLEATED ERYTHROCYTES FOUND IN MATERNAL VENOUS-BLOOD BE USED IN THE NONINVASIVE PRENATAL-DIAGNOSIS OF FETAL CHROMOSOME-ABNORMALITIES

Nucleated erythrocytes found in the venous blood of pregnant women hav e been seen as the most promising type of cell for prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities because of their short life span and their scar city in the venous blood of healthy non-pregnant women. However, this review demonstrates that a great proportion of the nucleated erythrocy tes found in venous blood during pregnancy are of maternal origin and that pregnancy per se induces nucleated erythrocytes of maternal origi n to appear in the peripheral blood. More efficient and specific enric hment techniques are therefore needed to obtain purified nucleated ery throcytes of fetal origin in such quantities that reliable prenatal di agnoses can be performed.