Service
All services are accompanied by individual counseling.
- Targeted prenatal medical consultation (pilotage in special prenatal diagnostics)
- Ultrasound fine diagnostics (special malformation diagnostics, targeted hi-res, systematic ultrasound examination) classically around the 20th week
gestation, modern 11-14 week gestation incl. fetal echocardiography
- Prenatal medical screening tests: genetic diagnostics (NT, NIPT), other search procedures
- Diagnostic puncture (invasive tests): CVS - chorionic villus sampling, AC - amniocentesis , FBS - fetal blood sampling
- Doppler sonography (blood supply mother - child)
- Further care in the interdisciplinary network for children with special findings
Prenatal medical counseling
- General counseling:
Always takes place before the examination on the possibilities and limits of prenatal diagnostics
- Special counseling:
Always takes place regarding your personal questions and concerns before the examination and after the diagnostic procedure has been performed
- Consultation in special cases:
A special, differentiated prenatal medical consultation is always required if the history or the prenatal medical analysis that has now taken place provides indications that the fetus could be affected or is recognizably affected by a disorder in its development.
High resolution ultrasound diagnostics
The structured systematic analysis of the body structures of the unborn child is the information basis of prenatal medicine for physician and pregnant woman.
The sonographic exclusion of malformations including echocardiography and Doppler is performed with high-resolution ultrasound systems of the latest generation. Immediately after the examination, a report letter is prepared and sent to the referring physician (gynecologist) by fax. The original of the letter is given to the pregnant woman for her records electronically and as printout (on demand).
In principle, systematic organ diagnostics can be performed at any time from the 12th week of pregnancy.
non-invasive tests -prenatal genetic screening
- Nuchal translucency test (NT measurement): The combined nuchal translucency test according to Nicolaides (often also called FTS- first trimester screening) is currently the procedure used at the earliest point in a pregnancy that can be used to comprehensively (physically and genetically) approach the question of whether an unborn child is healthy or not. The NT test was developed for the pregnancy time window 11 to 14 weeks.
- NIPT - fetal genetic diagnosis from maternal blood: In this test (venous blood sampling from the mother), the fetal DNA present in the maternal blood (place of origin: placenta) is analyzed and weighted IN PARTS. The procedure focuses on the three most common genetic disorders Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18), Patau/Paetau syndrome (trisomy 13) and disorders of the sex chromosomes (X, Y chromosome). The reported strength of the procedure is the extensive - but not complete - detection of trisomy 21 (more than 99% of cases are conspicuous in the test). Rarer known genetic disorders are not considered by NIPT. Thus, in practice, this procedure is a targeted search procedure for Down syndrome.
Invasive diagnostics
Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) from 10+0 SSW.
This is a tissue sampling from the placenta. The placenta is the largest fetal organ prenatally. Advantage: Maximum early, maximum fast (result on the following day), maximum safe, because the amniotic sac remains intact.
Amniocentesis (amniocentesis) from 15+0 SSW
Oldest and most common method of invasive prenatal diagnostics. Relatively late diagnosis, 10 days processing time in the laboratory until the results are available.
Fetal blood sampling - Umbilical cord puncture from 18+0 SSW
Collection of fetal blood from the umbilical cord. Maximum accelerated and maximum broad diagnostics. With this collection method, genetic diagnostics, infection diagnostics and blood and coagulation diagnostics can be performed on the unborn child at the same time.
Doppler sonography
Diagnosis of fetal deficiency and differentiated assessment of its extent (compensated-decompensated placental insufficiency).
Since uteroplacental insufficiency is often associated with malformations and genetic diseases, a prior specific fetal malformation diagnosis is a prerequisite for the correct assignment of Doppler sonographic findings.
Other screening procedures
Other search methods (preeclampsia screening, integrated screening, age-free screening (AFS screening according to Schmidt/Scharf) can supplement the NT test or NIPT as a test method in the case of special questions.