Edwards' syndrome
Inheritance patterns and prenatal diagnosis
Inheritance patterns
This is seen as being sporadic. In rare cases a balanced translocation in a parent can give rise to an unbalanced translocation in their child.
Prenatal diagnosis
Chorionic villus sampling at ten to twelve weeks and amniocentesis at sixteen weeks. The 'triple test' will detect approximately fifty per cent of cases. Routine detailed ultrasound scanning at eighteen weeks can detect up to eighty per cent of cases. A suspected diagnosis of Edwards syndrome can only be confirmed by amniocentesis or placental biopsy.
Psychological and behavioural characteristics
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