ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Human amniotic fluid has been utilized in prenatal diagnosis for over 70 years. It has proven to be a safe, reliable, and simple screening tool for a wide variety of developmental and genetic diseases (1). The first reported amniocentesis took place in 1930 when attempts were being made at correlating cytologic examination of cell concentration, count, and phenotypes present in the amniotic fluid to the sex and health of the baby. Since then, development of karyotyping techniques and the discovery of reliable diagnostic markers such as a-fetoprotein, as well as the development ultrasound-guided amniocentesis, have greatly increased the safety and reliability of the procedure as a valid diagnostic tool (2-7).
