PEGASUS: PErsonalized Genomics for prenatal Aneuploidy Screening USing maternal blood

Each year, 450,000 Canadian women become pregnant and, as a result of prenatal screening for Down syndrome, approximately 10,000 will have an amniocentesis (sampling of liquid surrounding the fetus). Of those, 315 will be found to carry a baby with Down syndrome and 70 normal pregnancies will be lost from complications of the procedure. It has been discovered that, during pregnancy, there is fetal DNA in maternal blood. This study will try to determine if new blood tests to screen for Down syndrome using fetal DNA from the mother’s blood may be much more accurate and pose no risk to the mother or baby. 

Eligible participants are mothers who are pregnant with one baby and are participating in prenatal screening for Down syndrome, and those mothers who are undergoing an amniocentesis, CVS or NIPT to test for Down syndrome.

Contact: Dynika St Omer, dstomer@ohri.ca

Web link: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01925742?term=PEGASUS&rank=1