330: Prevalence of maternal cell contamination in amniotic fluid samples

Abstract

Chromosomal microarray analysis is a growing component of invasive prenatal testing; however, this technique is susceptible to maternal cell contamination (MCC). Many practitioners have abandoned the practice of discarding the first few milliliters (mL) of amniotic fluid withdrawn during the amniocentesis since the reported rate of MCC in cultured cells is considered to be negligible (1-3%). We evaluated the incidence of MCC by molecular analysis within the first 2 mL of amniotic fluid from amniocentesis to determine a more accurate risk of contamination.