Article Sidebar
Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
Down's syndrome in South Africa - incidence, maternal age and utilisation of prenatal diagnosis
Abstract
Down's syndrome (DS) is the most common chromosomal cause of mental retardation, and amniocentesis is the most significant factor affecting its prevalence. In South Africa, prenatal cytogenetic diagnoses have been available for just over a decade and the utilisation and effect of this procedure in the white population born between 1980 and 1984 was evaluated. On the basis of pooled data involving 4939640 births, an overall world mean rate for DS of 1,34/1000 live births (mainly Caucasian) for single-year maternal ages was calculated. Accordingly, 58 cases of DS were expected in the 40 year and older maternal age group in South Africa. Only 34 cases (59%) were detected prenatally, and a further 3 cases were identified by the notification system during the same period and in the same maternal age group. Another 24 DS cases in the maternal age group of 40 years and over could thus potentially have been detected prenatally and prevented, while 21 cases in this age group (36%) could not be accounted for at all. Cost-benefit analyses are shown and the number of amniocenteses required for various maternal age groups to affect the prevention of DS is calculated.
