Publication Description
CHORIONIC-VILLUS sampling retrieves cells from the developing placenta for genetic or chromosomal analysis during the first trimester and has been used clinically since early 1984. 1 , 2 The first method, transcervical sampling, was adopted rapidly at many centers in Europe and North America, and it was found to be a safe and efficacious approach to early prenatal diagnosis in several clinical trials. 3 4 5 6 Transabdominal sampling was subsequently offered as an alternative technique, with claimed advantages of a lower risk of infection, ease of learning due to its similarity to transabdominal amniocentesis, and overall increased safety because the sampling instrument is a needle that . . .