Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, {Bi-Monthly}, ISSN 2249-9598, Volume-V, Issue-II, Mar-Apr 2015 Issue www.oiirj.org ISSN 2249 - 9598 Page 11 A Comparison Study on First and Second Trimester down’sSyndrome Screening Results in Pregnant Albanian Women Emil G. Xhuvani a , Aleksander P. Xhuvani b , Anila K.Mitre c a Department of Biophysics, University of Tirana, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Street Bulevardi “Zog I”, Tirana, Albania b Department of Computer Engineering, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Square Mother Teresa, nr 1”, Tirana, Albania. c Intermedica Diagnostic Tirana, Street “Rreshit Petrela” Nr. 3, Tirana, Albania Nowadays in Albania pregnant women are screened for fetal Down's syndrome (T21) presence by performing among other test as well the first and second trimester screeningtests.Concentration of PAPP-A, free-β-hCG, AFP, total HCG were measuredwith COBAS6000;µE 3 (oestriol)with ELISA method. NT, CRL and BPD were measured with standardized ultrasound techniques. Calculations T21 risk were computed with ssdlab5. The screening results for T21 were confirmed through pregnancy termination and karyotyping. 514 women with singleton pregnancies underwent combined screening test at 73 days through 97 days of gestation age and 487 women with singleton pregnancies underwent to second-trimester screening (triple test) at 105 days through 140 days of gestation age. In the first-trimester screening we had 3 cases with T21at a 4.7% false positive rate, 3 cases for the triple test at a 9.92% false positive rate and 0% false negative rate for both tests. Sensitivity for combined test was at 100% (CI 30.48%↔100.00%)while for triple test was at 100% (CI 30.48%↔100.00%); specificity for combined test was at 95.30% (CI 93.09%↔96.97%)while for the triple test was at 90.08% (CI 87.07%↔92.60%). Combined test has a better performance than triple test regarding screening for T21. KEYWORDS: sensitivity, screening test, Down syndrome, T21, specificity. INTRODUCTION Nowadays in Albania a big number of pregnant women are screened for fetal Down's syndrome (T21) presence by performing among other test as well the first and second trimester screening tests. The first trimester screening test assess the fetus risk for T21 (and other aneuploidies) by means of the combination ofmaternal serum biomarkers concentration as Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A (PAPP-A), free subunit β of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (free β-hCG) and the nuchal translucency (NT) measurement. The blood drawn from pregnant women for biochemical analysis is performed between 9 and 13 weeks’+6 days of gestation, and on the same day is performed the ultrasound measurement of NT.All these data are computed in a statistical program that asses the risk of the fetus to be or not affected with one of the chromosomal aneuploidies. Detection rate, the ratio between the screen positive cases with true positive cases, for Down syndrome range from 79 to 90% with a 5% false-positive rate(Spencer, K., et al., 2003).In the cases of affected fetus with T21 the PAPP-A levels are reduced, and free β-hCG is increased. The sensitivity is increased with the combination of NT Abstract