Place de la biologie dans le diagnostic prénatal

Prenatal diagnosis mainly involves clinical and ultrasound signs and biology. Many aspects of foetal behaviour are concerned such as Down's syndrome screening, neural tube defect detection, infections and genetic diseases. In utero therapy is routinely performed and red blood cells and platelets transfusions are very useful in the correction of anemia or thrombopenia. Foetal transplantation has been successful in the treatment of severe combined immunodeficiency disorders. However, in order to monitor the treatment, the knowledge of normal values of foetal biological parameters is essential. It must be stressed that molecular biology allows fast and accurate prenatal diagnosis.