Efectividad del doble test bioquímico como prueba de cribado de síndrome de Down en el segundo trimestre

Several screening tests are available to identify the population at risk of Down syndrome. This population should then be recommended to undergo an invasive technique to obtain a fetal karyotype. In our hospital, screening is done by the combined test (maternal age + nuchal translucency + β subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin [β-HCG] + pregnancy-associated plasma-A [PAPP-A]) during the first trimester of pregnancy. When this test is not feasible, we request the double test (alpha-fetoprotein [AFP] + β-HCG) as a second trimester screening test.The results of the double test in our hospital were unsatisfactory because the detection rate was 0% with a false positive rate of 7.7%. Therefore, we believe alternative criteria should be used to select women at risk of having a child with Down syndrome in the second trimester.