amniocentesis
amniocentesis
Definition
am·nio·cen·tesis (am′nē ō′sen tē′sis)
noun
the surgical procedure of inserting a hollow needle through the abdominal wall into the uterus of a pregnant woman and extracting amniotic fluid, which may be analyzed to determine the sex of the developing fetus or the presence of disease, genetic defects, etc.
Etymology: ModL < amnion + Gr kentēsis, a pricking
amniocentesis
Usage Examples
Converse of object
- offer: If these scans give more cause for concern you may be given counseling and be offered an amniocentesis.
- have: She had gone back to the doctor and had an amniocentesis done.
- do: They asked my permission to do an amniocentesis to check for fetal lung maturity.
- use: Millions of parents have already used amniocentesis and sonograms to diagnose Down's syndrome or cystic fibrosis.
- undergo: It also means that older mothers can be given a low risk for Down syndrome without having to undergo an amniocentesis.
- follow: One death followed amniocentesis; a few followed miscarriage or termination.
Modifies a noun
- test: The amniocentesis test will show whether the baby has normal chromosomes or is affected.
- result: Amniocentesis results take two ( worrying ) weeks to return.
- procedure: Between 1 in every 100 and 1 in every 200 amniocentesis procedures will cause a miscarriage, usually within three weeks of the procedure.
- miscarriage: This causes a huge amount of emotional distress, not least because chorion villus sampling or amniocentesis causes miscarriage in 1-2 % of pregnancies.
Browse dictionary entries near amniocentesis
- amnesty
- amnesia
- amn't
- Amn
- ammunition
- ammonotelic
- ammono-
- ammono
- ammonium sulfate
- ammonium nitrate
- amnion
- amobarbital
- amodiaquin
- amoeba
- amoebaean
- amoebiasis
- amoebic dysentery
- amoebocyte
- amok
- amole
