| Summary: | Recent advances in genomic sequencing and bioinformatics have led to development of noninvasive detection methods with detection rates approaching those obtained with amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Recently, a novel prenatal testing method has become available. This method, known as non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), is a molecular approach for assessing fetal aneuploidy using cell-free fetal deoxyribonucleic acid (cffDNA) from the plasma of pregnant women. NIPT has a false positive rate of about 0.2% and detection rate of about 98% for Down syndrome. NIPT has been used for assessing abnormalities such as trisomy 21, trisomy 18, and trisomy 13. Approximately 10% to 15% of the cell free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in maternal blood comprises of cffDNA. The half-life of cffDNA is short and clears from maternal circulation soon after delivery. Hence, there is no risk of fetal DNA persisting from one pregnancy to the next and confounding test results. The cost of NIPT ranges from US$800 to US$2000 in the USA and from US$500 to US$1500 elsewhere. A Canadian economic study reported a cost range of C$600 to C$800 for NIPT. Among other factors, cost implications for introducing this new technology in clinical practice will need to be considered. At present there is some uncertainty around the incorporation of NIPT into current strategies for prenatal screening and diagnosis. The purpose of this report is to provide information on the cost-effectiveness of non-invasive pre-natal testing and to describe evidence-based guidelines for its use
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