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Re: Downs

From: William D. McIntosh, MD (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu, 18 Feb 1999 16:19:19 -0600 (CST)

At Thu, 18 Feb 1999, Barb wrote: >
>After an extremely difficult pregnancy, the wife of one of our coworkers
>recently delivered beautiful twin daughters; one of which has Downs
>Syndrome. (Mom was 38, first pregnancy, opted not to have amnio.)
>
>Being a twin myself, my coworkers have wrongly assumed that I am an
>expert on twins. Can you tell how common an occurrence this is, i.e.,
>only one in a set of twins having Downs?

This is not a very common occurence, but it does happen obviously. These must be fraternal twins, as identical twins have an identical genetic map. The risk of having a Down's syndome baby is about 1/100 for a woman of 38. At the same time, her risk of twins (assuming that she is not using any fertility agents) is around 1/70. Her risk of having one normal and one Down's baby would be 1/7000 births to women 38 years of age, I think. Math was never my best thing. In any event, the risk is very small, but not quite zero. 

--
William D. McIntosh, MD
Clarksville, TN


This is for educational purposes only.  It is not intended
 to replace consultation and examination by your physician
 or other health care provider.



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