Early screening cuts births of children with Down syndrome by 50 percent in Denmark

Early ultrasound screening, coupled with a blood test, has reduced the number of children born in Denmark with Down syndrome by 50 percent, according to Professor Karen Brondum-Nielsen of the Kennedy Institute in Glostrup, Denmark.

The findings were the result of an analysis of data collected in three counties in Denmark, accounting for about one-fifth of the nation’s population, for the years 2004 to 2006. The analysis followed a recommendation for new guidelines for prenatal diagnosis in 2004 by Denmark’s National Board of Health.

Until September 2004 the Danish government had recommended that only pregnant women over the age of 35 should be offered the combined non-invasive tests, which are carried out between the 11th and 14th weeks of pregnancy.

But Denmark's national health board subsequently recommended that the early tests should be made available to all women who requested them, regardless of age. The combined testing regimen included a nuchal translucency ultrasound along with a maternal blood test.

Brondum-Nielsen reported that women whose initial screen indicated an elevated chance of Down syndrome were then offered an invasive test (amniocentesis or chorionic villi sampling). As a result of the early screening, she said, rates of invasive testing declined during the period studied.

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"... The professor concluded that there was a need to analyse the psychological impact of the policy, both in regard to the pre-test counseling available to pregnant women and their attitudes towards screening."