A NEW ‘revolutionary’ and painless method for preventing the haemolytic disease of the newborn was announced yesterday by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING).
Director of CING’s Molecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, Dr Marina Cleanthous, said the CING laboratory would be the first in Cyprus to use this new non-invasive neonatal examination method, applicable on all pregnant women with blood type Rhesus negative.
Cleanthous explained that during pregnancy, one often observes a leakage of red blood cells of the foetus in the blood circulation of the mother. In such cases, where the mother has Rhesus negative blood and the foetus is positive, this can cause the mother’s immune system to produce antibodies, known as anti-D. At a later stage of the pregnancy, these antibodies can cross through the placenta and enter the blood of the foetus, increasing the chances of destroying the red blood cells of the foetus and causing anaemia, a condition known as the Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn or Rhesus disease. The anaemia could be a mild form, or it could be very serious, and even lead to death.
The disease can be prevented by injecting the pregnant woman with preformed anti-D antibodies, which bind the red blood cells of the foetus before they are detected by the mother’s immune system, thereby preventing the production of the potentially dangerous antibodies. This preventive therapy can be administered between the 28th and 34th week of the pregnancy or straight after the birth of the first-born child.
Using this new method of non-invasive neonatal diagnosis, doctors can identify the blood type of the foetus, thereby avoiding the need to administer the anti-D injection in pregnant women with Rhesus negative foetuses, as well as avoid unnecessary treatment of pregnant women which carry the risk of transmission of viral infections and allergic reactions. Also, if the foetus is Rhesus negative, they can avoid unnecessary tests to monitor the levels of antibodies during pregnancy.
Gynaecologists from all towns in Cyprus have been informed of the new method and have already sent their first blood samples to the Institute for analysis from Rhesus negative women that have passed the 16th week of pregnancy.
Cleanthous noted that the new method of taking a blood sample from the mother to determine the blood type of the foetus was a “new, revolutionary method” which would replace the traditional method where samples are taken from the placenta of the foetus. “This avoids the small risk to mother and foetus that exists from taking samples from the placenta,” she said.
This type of diagnosis has been administered in the UK since 2001, while in Cyprus, it was developed and implemented by the Institute through participation in a European research project SAFE (Special non-invasive advances in foetal and neonatal evaluation network).
In Cyprus, the method has already been applied successfully to gender determination in families with gender-related hereditary diseases. Cleanthous hoped that it could soon be used for the neonatal diagnosis of thalassaemia and other hereditary diseases.
