Chromosomal studies of the fetus after a miscarriage are a waste of money

A miscarriage is a heartbreaking event and the one thing the patient wants to know is – Why did the miscarriage happen ? Did I do something wrong ? And what can we do to prevent this from happening again ? This is one of the reasons why a lot of doctors will send the fetus ( products of conception, POC) for genetic testing – either FISH or karyotyping or CGH. These are expensive tests, and I think many doctors do this as a knee jerk reflex – doctors like doing tests in order to make a diagnosis , and because patients demand answers . ( Some do it because they make a lot of money by ordering the test !) I think this test is pointless for most patients . We already know that the commonest reason for miscarriages (  more than 60 to 70% of the time ) is a genetic problem with the fetus, and this is Nature’s defense mechanism, to prevent the birth of an abnormal baby. While these defects are often random, they are commoner in older women. This is because the eggs of older women have more genetic abnormalities, because they have “aged” and have genetic defects, which cannot be screened for. This is why there’s no point in doing the test for an individual patient – it does not add any value to their life ! Please remember that genetic testing technology today is quite crude – it only allows us to count the number of chromosomes ; and to check their shape. Now, even if the test is result is abnormal, it only allows us to tell the patient that it was th...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs