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More about Digeorge Syndrome:
Definition Causes and symptoms Diagnosis Treatment Prognosis Prevention Resources |
Diagnosis of DiGeorge syndrome can be made by ultrasound examination around the eighteenth week of pregnancy, when abnormalities in the development of the heart or the palate can be detected. Another technique that is used to diagnose the syndrome before birth is called fluorescence in situ hybridization, or FISH. This technique uses DNA probes from the DiGeorge region on chromosome 22. FISH can be performed on cell samples obtained by amniocentesis as early as the fourteenth week of pregnancy. It confirms about 95% of cases of DiGeorge syndrome.
If the mother has not had prenatal testing, the diagnosis of DiGeorge syndrome is sometimes suggested by the child's facial features at birth. In other cases, the doctor makes the diagnosis during heart surgery when he or she notices the absence or abnormal location of the thymus gland. The diagnosis can be confirmed by blood tests for calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone levels, and by the sheep cell test for immune function.
— Rebecca J. Frey, PhD
