Comparison of chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis: current status of prenatal diagnosis in Japan

Synthesis of evidence from epidemiological studies with interval-censored exposure due to grouping

We describe a method for assessing dose-response effects from a series of case-control and cohort studies in which the exposure information is interval censored. The interval censoring of the exposure variable is dealt with through the use of retrospective models in which the exposure is treated as a multinomial response and disease status as a binary covariate. Polychotomous logistic regression models are adopted in which the dose-response relationship between exposure and disease may be modeled in a discrete or continuous fashion. Partial conditioning is possible to eliminate some of the nuisance parameters. The methods are applied to the motivating study of the relationship between chorionic villus sampling and the occurrence of terminal transverse limb reduction.

Adverse effects of chorionic villus sampling: a meta-analysis

Meta-analysis is a popular tool for combining evidence from several related studies. The technique is usually used to combine randomized clinical trials, case-control studies or prospective studies where each study has its own exposed and unexposed groups. By including separate 'study effects' (either fixed or random), one can combine information about differences between control and exposed groups, while still allowing for study heterogeneity. In this paper, we extend existing methods to combine studies of disparate designs, where some studies do not include concurrent controls. We apply the methods to a meta-analysis of the association of prenatal testing via chorionic villus sampling with the occurrence of terminal transverse limb defects.

PCR-RFLP analysis as an aid to genetic counseling of families of Japanese patients with group A xeroderma pigmentosum

Because Japanese patients with complementation group A xeroderma pigmentosum (XP-A) show early skin cancer and severe neurologic dysfunction, their family members are greatly concerned about the risk of inherited disease. In contrast to western XP-A patients, almost all Japanese XP-A patients have two of the three mutations (nonsense mutation in exon 3, splicing mutation in intron 3, and non-sense mutation in exon 6), which are easily detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. This work was aimed to see whether PCR-RFLP analysis is useful for genetic counseling of XP patients' siblings who are potential carriers of an XP-A gene mutation. In two of the three case studies presented, the probands were homozygous for the splicing mutation in intron 3 of the gene. In their siblings receiving genetic counseling, no mutation was found in the mutation site in one case, and one splicing mutation was found in the second case. In the third case, the proband was a compound heterozygote for the splicing mutation and for an unidentified mutation; in her sibling, no mutation was found in either of these mutation sites. No mutation was found in the siblings' spouses. On the basis of these findings, we reassured the prospective parents that there was little probability of having XP children, but in the second and third cases, we told them that their apparently unaffected children might be carriers. Each couple subsequently had one unaffected child. Thus, PCR-RFLP analysis is useful for genetic counseling of family members of XP-A patients.