Intrauterine fetal diagnosis for hematologic and other congenital disorders

Advances in prenatal diagnostic techniques allow for earlier, more rapid, a nd more effective detection of congenital disorders. The indications, diagn ostic accuracy, and risks for invasive diagnostic techniques including amni ocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and fetal blood sampling are reviewed . Recent advances in non-invasive detection methods, such as fetal ultrasou nd and the isolation of fetal cells in the maternal circulation are discuss ed. Additionally, the intrauterine diagnosis of congenital infections and c hromosomal and Mendelian disorders, as well as hematologic disorders are su mmarized.