Conventional screening for common aneuploidies remain the “most appropriate” choice for first-line screening for most women in the general obstetric population, according to a committee opinion published online June 26 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. However, the groups say that noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPT) using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methodologies offers “tremendous potential” as a screening method for fetal aneuploidy and that any patient, regardless of her risk status, may choose cfDNA analysis as a screening strategy for common aneuploidies (trisomies 13, 18, and 21). NIPT has been hailed as a major breakthrough in bringing sequencing-based testing into routine care, given the speed it has been adopted into practice since its commercial introduction. The new statement expands the use of NIPT, compared to a 2011 ACOG recommendation, which stated that cfDNA testing should not be offered to low-risk women and only used in high-risk women. Yet, the new statement still falls short of universally endorsing the test, citing the limitations of cfDNA screening performance and limited data on cost-effectiveness in the low-risk obstetric population. The groups say that more recent data shows the tests’ sensitivity and specificity in the general obstetric […]