Ordering clinicians determined indication(s) for testing. Cases accepted for analysis were indicated as singleton pregnancies by ordering clinicians. Results were reported directly to the ordering clinician or distribution partners. Samples were considered outside of the specifications for testing and were not analyzed if there was insufficient blood volume or the wrong tube was

used, the sample was damaged, the sample was received at the laboratory >6 days after collection, the gestational age was <9 weeks, the patient used an egg donor, or www.selleckchem.com/products/Paclitaxel(Taxol).html the patient had a confirmed multiple gestation.15 Testing was performed on all samples with sufficient blood volume (>13 mL) as described previously using validated laboratory methodologies (cfDNA isolation, polymerase chain reaction amplification targeting 19,488 SNPs, high-throughput sequencing, and analysis using the Next-generation Aneuploidy Test Using SNPs [NATUS] algorithm).9, 10, 11, 12 and 15 Samples selleck chemicals were subject to a stringent set of quality-control metrics9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 before reports were sent to ordering clinicians. The NATUS algorithm incorporates parental genotypic information, uses numerous quality control metrics, and determines a sample-specific accuracy for each interrogated

chromosome.9, 10, 11, 12 and 15 Briefly, the algorithm considers parental genotypic information, crossover frequency data, and possible fetal chromosome copy numbers (monosomy/disomy/trisomy) at 19,488 evaluated polymorphic loci. By comparing the observed fetal allele distributions from the sequencing data to the predicted distributions, the algorithm determines the fetal ploidy state with the maximum likelihood for each interrogated chromosome; this maximum likelihood probability is incorporated into a risk score for reporting purposes.15 The NATUS algorithm is currently only validated to call aneuploidy in singleton gestations. However, the algorithm is able to determine when cfDNA sequencing results do not match the modeled fetal copy numbers with a high likelihood,

and can identify the presence of additional through fetal haplotypes that indicate either fetal triploidy or the presence of an undetected dizygotic multiple gestation. The presence of an additional fetal haplotype was identified when all tested chromosomes failed to match the disomy hypothesis, and when the additional haplotype was apparent from allele distributions. At this time, the algorithm cannot distinguish dizygotic twin gestations from triploidy pregnancies due to similar allele distributions (Figure 1); therefore these are reported as a single call. Specifically, in a euploid singleton pregnancy, where the maternal alleles are AA (with dimorphic alleles arbitrarily labeled as A and B), the 2 expected fetal genotypes include AA and AB.