This test is available to all pregnant women and also to their partners.
CF carrier screen test is performed to determine whether a person carries the abnormal genetic patterns that cause cystic fibrosis or not.
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition. This disease mainly affects digestion and breathing. Mainly this disease is the result of an abnormal gene that makes your body to produce thick mucus in the lungs.
This mucus causes an infection that can be a life threatening condition. The maximum life expectancy for a person with cystic fibrosis is 30 years.
Use of CF carrier screen:
- This prenatal test determines carriers of cystic fibrosis.
- Determines your risk of carrying a child with CF
- Diagnoses cystic fibrosis both prenatal and postnatal
- This test identifies familial transformation in affected individuals.
You need to undergo this test before or in early pregnancy. In order to conduct the test, a blood or saliva sample is taken.
Possibility of getting cystic fibrosis to your child:
The only way to get cystic fibrosis is to have two genes that cause CF. One comes from mother and the other comes from father, which means that both the parents have CF carriers.
One CF gene goes along with one CF carrier and it has no symptoms. The CF gene can be inherited from your parents and you never know it.
If you or your partner only one has a CF carrier, then your children won’t get CF. But, your child has 50-50 chances to have a symptomless carrier. If you and your partner both have CF gene, then there are 25% chances (one in four children) that your child will get cystic fibrosis.
If the results of the test are positive i.e. both you and your partner are CF carriers, then your practitioner tests your baby in the uterus. If you have a family history of CF, then it is most essential for you to undergo CF carrier screen test.
