Читать книгу Genetic Disorders and the Fetus - Группа авторов - Страница 89

Amniotic fluid (AF) represents a constantly changing environment that simultaneously reflects and contributes to fetal development. Constituents include growth‐promoting and growth‐protective factors, and sufficient AF volume (AFV) provides mechanical cushioning and space for fetal movement. Biochemical and molecular components may also reflect fetal disease and maturity and, on occasion, maternal disease or environmental exposures. Analysis of the chemical constituents of AF has yielded valuable information for prenatal diagnosis, allowing assessment of fetal physiology and metabolism. Because the AF can be viewed as an extension of the fetal extracellular space,^{1, 2} an understanding of its origin, formation, and chemical constitution is crucial to prenatal diagnosis and fetal therapy. Sampling of extracoelomic fluid and AF during the 8th–16th weeks of pregnancy for the purpose of prenatal diagnosis has added valuable knowledge about the origin, formation, and content of AF.