Question

2.A Chinese couple residing in the United Kingdom has had two pregnancies and the outcome in both was a stillborn edematous baby (hydrops fetalis). These pregnancies occurred when they lived in Asia and they have no living children. They seek some genetic advice about the chances of this happening again, but no medical records are available for the pregnancies.

1.What diagnostic possibilities should be considered?

2.What investigations are appropriate to this situation?

Answer 1

• Hydrops fetalis is the edema of unborn baby or new born baby.
• It is kind of generalised edema occurs in the whole body due to anemia and hypoproteinemia.
• There are two types of hydrops fetalis

1. Immune hydrops
2. Non immune hydrops

1)

• The diagnostic possibilities of ,Hydrops fetalis can be monitored and diagnosed with ultasound scans.
• Also can be diagnosed by identifying excess serous fluid in one space of pericardial effusion or pleural effusion, accompanied by skin edema.

2)

• Genetic microarray and molecular testing can be conducted in hydrops fetalis.
• Chromosomal analyses can be performed on desquamated fetal epithelial cells in amniotic fluid,fetal tissue biopsy samples or placental biopsy samples.