A 35-year-old woman with gravida 2 para 1 walks in for an usual prenatal appointment. Her first kid was born with a hydrocele and first and second toe syndactyly. Except for a multivitamin, the patient has no severe medical concerns and is not on any drugs. The lungs are clean, and the first and second heart sounds are normal. The abdomen is nontender and soft. Uterine size, fetal mobility, and fetal heart activity are all within normal ranges. During the 18th week of pregnancy, the patient has an amniocentesis. Acetylcholinesterase levels in amniotic fluid are elevated. Which of the following procedures is most likely to have failed in this patient's amniocentesis results?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: The most common cause of neural tube abnormalities is when the neural folds fail to fuse in the area of the anterior or posterior neuropores. Persistent connection between the spinal canal and the amniotic cavity permits alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to seep into the amnionic fluid, resulting in higher levels of AFP and AChE detectable during amniocentesis.

A 35-Year-Old Woman with Gravida 2 Para 1 Walks in for an Usual