Ultrasound to Detect Fetal Anomalies

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Terry DuBose, M.S.: "We’re at the 44^th Annual Conference of the AIUM here in San Francisco, in April of 2000, and we have Dr. Benacerraf from Harvard and Boston and who has been very active in sonography for years especially obstetrical sonography. She gave the Fry memorial lecture this year, which is quite an honor and she’s going to be the new Editor for the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. She has agreed to come on board with OBGYN.net as Editorial Advisor for the Ultrasound section. So we’re very pleased to have you."

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "Thank you very much."

Terry DuBose, M.S.: "I’d like for you to tell us about your work, the research you’ve done, and the lecture you gave for the Fry memorial."

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "Thanks, I’m delighted to be here. I was very honored to give the Fry lecture. It gave me an opportunity to summarize the work that I have done in the detection of fetal malformations by ultrasound, and in particular, the detection of fetuses with Down syndrome. My area of interest in research has been the detection of the second trimester fetus with chromosomal abnormalities. Over the last fifteen years or so, I worked very hard to find ways to detect Down syndrome without amniocentesis or at least to detect the patients who would benefit from having amniocentesis who would otherwise not be candidates for it. And that is young women or women who are considered at low-risk who, in fact, may be carrying a fetus with a chromosomal abnormality so that’s really what I talked about at the lecture and what my main interest has been."

Terry DuBose, M.S.: "Do you have any new plans for AIUM?"

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "I have a lot of plans, I’m just beginning to think about some of the plans. The AIUM is a unique organization because it’s an organization that focuses on ultrasound but it includes lots of different modalities that people come in from, for example, you have radiologists, obstetricians, gynecologists, urologists, and ER doctors and they all come together to do ultrasound. This organization is all inclusive and so the journal is also all inclusive, and I hope to have the readership be interested in all the different types of articles that come from all these different modalities."

Terry DuBose, M.S.: "That’s one of the things that has always attracted me to the AIUM, there’s much more of a camaraderie between the sonographers and sonologists and everybody involved and it’s been good for the profession, I think."

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "Exactly, because I think there are potential turf battles out there in many of the hospitals and this is a forum where in fact people come together and sort of put their turf battles aside and collaborate."

Terry DuBose, M.S.: "We really appreciate you joining the Board and feel free to tell us if we need to do something different or if you’d like to see other things included. We really appreciate having you here."

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "I look forward to it very much. Thank you very much for inviting me."

Terry DuBose, M.S.: "Yes, thank you, Dr. Benacerraf."

Dr. Beryl Benacerraf: "Thank you."