The NACE test is a non-invasive prenatal test. It detects abnormalities such as down’s syndrome using a simple blood test. It is completely safe for the patient and the baby. It is a small sample of blood drawn from your arm just like for any other routine blood test. This test can be done from the 10-13 th week of pregnancy.
The NACE test uses advanced technology to compare foetal DNA with the mother’s DNA to detect certain abnormalities with great precision and reliability. Duringpregnancy, a baby’s DNA mixes with its mother’s blood DNA. Progress in the field of genetics makes it possible for us to detect this DNA in the mother’s blood and screen genetic data regarding the baby’s chromosomes.
The NACE test screens for chromosomal abnormalities in the baby. Human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes with a total of 46 (two copies of each pair). The first 22 pairs are numbered from 1 to 22 which are autosomes. The last pair determines our sex. Girls have two X chromosomes and boys have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. Health and development issues appear if there is a missing or extra chromosome. When there is an additional copy ofchromosome (i.e. three copies instead of two), it is called a trisomy.
NACE detects with maximum accuracy foetuses with Down’s syndrome. Likewise, it detects other frequent chromosomal alterations (chromosomes 18, 13, X and Y) with an equally high reliability rate. The test can be performed from the 10th week of your pregnancy.
Chromosomal abnormalities
Pregnant patients with more than 35 years of age
Patients conceived by IVF treatment both by own or Donor programme
The NACE test gives more information about the risk of the most frequent foetal aneuploidies than triple screening during the 1 st trimester, decreasing the rate of false positives and negatives.
