EXCLUSION OF MATERNAL CELL CONTAMINATION

Background

The potential presence of maternal cell contamination (MCC) in chorionic villus or amniotic fluid samples poses a serious risk for prenatal misdiagnosis. Best practice guidelines recommend that all prenatal diagnoses for single gene disorders should have MCC studies carried out to exclude, as far as possible, the presence of MCC which might compromise the molecular prenatal result. It is recommended that the analysis of a maternal sample is carried out alongside the prenatal sample. It is recommended that the analysis of a paternal sample should be avoided as this may raise non-paternity issues.
 

MCC Testing at WRGL

The panel used in this laboratory for MCC analysis is the autosome panel used for rapid aneuploidy detection (QF-PCR). It contains polymorphic microsatellite markers from chromosomes 21, 13 and 18 which are amplified by PCR and analysed on a 3130 Genetic analyser.
 

Cost, Sample Requirements & Turnaround Times