Scientific and Practical Conference with International Participation "A Modern View on Prenatal Diagnostics"

On May 22, there was held a scientific and practical conference with international participation "A Modern View of Prenatal Diagnostics" at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Mother and Child" in Minsk.

A welcoming speech was given by Oksana Pribushenya, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Chief Specialist in Medical Genetics of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus, Head of the Laboratory of Medical Genetics and Monitoring of Congenital Defects of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Mother and Child”.

She noted that prenatal diagnosis of developmental defects and chromosomal diseases plays a crucial role in the healthcare system, helping to reduce stillbirth and infant mortality rates, and includes assessing the prognosis of pregnancy complications and planning the level of facility for delivery. Prenatal diagnostics also includes planning the examination and treatment of the newborn, assessing the prognosis for the child's disease, and the possibility of rehabilitation.

The professor stated that taking into consideration a high proportion of women aged 35 and over among pregnant women (23%), age can no longer be an indication for fetal karyotyping, which requires the adoption of appropriate organizational decisions. As a result, the number of invasive procedures will be reduced by 30%, the incidence of iatrogenic losses will decrease, and the costs of expensive invasive interventions will be reduced. Oksana Pribushenya further noted the advisability of changing the screening strategy by shifting the cut-off to 1:100-150 for Down syndrome and a gradual transition to contingent screening using non-invasive prenatal testing in the Republic of Belarus. These changes will increase screening efficiency to 96%, reduce the number of invasive procedures to 1%, and increase the number of pregnancy terminations with a confirmed diagnosis by 10%.

Presentations were given by scientists from near and far abroad: Gulnara Svyatova, MD, Professor, President of the Association of Medical Geneticists of Kazakhstan, head of the science and education department of the Center for Molecular Medicine LLP, as well as Anna Johansson, chief researcher of the research and development department of Revvity from Sweden, who presented innovative NIPT technologies.

I.Turok, Head of the Ultrasound Diagnostics Department of Minsk City Hospital and Chief Prenatal Diagnostics Specialist of the Minsk City Executive Committee, presented the results of the Minsk prenatal service, outlining its goals and development prospects.

Several reports were devoted to the possibilities of prenatal diagnosis of fetal cardiac pathology, intrauterine fetal infection, as well as orphan diseases, including metabolic diseases and tuberous sclerosis.

Valentina Karbanovich, senior lecturer of the Department of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, and Medical Genetics of BSMU and a member of the Council of Young Scientists of BSMU, presented a report entitled "Polyhydramnios as a prenatal marker of fatal neonatal adenylosuccinate deficiency in the fetus".

The conference ended with a topical presentation on the prevention of mental disorders in pregnant women with diagnosed fetal congenital malformations, presented by Marina Shukalovich, senior lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry, Narcology, Psychotherapy, and Medical Psychology with a course of advanced training and retraining of Belarusian State Medical University.