First Annual Philadelphia Conference on Prenatal Diagnosis Update

The First Annual Philadelphia Conference on Prenatal Diagnosis Update was held on 12 June 2009. This meeting had a larger registration than expected, with over 225 healthcare professionals attending, including physicians, genetic counselors, nurses, midwives and sonographers, among others. The presentations of the meeting encompassed topics in the field of prenatal diagnosis, the current standards of prenatal diagnosis practice, innovations and new discoveries in the field, and their future implications for clinical practice. Preimplantation diagnosis, noninvasive prenatal diagnosis, counseling of patients with common genetics disorders, single-gene disorders and aneuploidies, prenatal diagnostic ultrasound for aneuploidy detection, management and treatment of congenital abnormalities, and legal consideration of prenatal diagnosis were all covered. In total, 14 sponsors with a sincere interest in education in the field participated with displays (listed in the acknowledgements). The program was planned and led by Professors Ossie Geifman-Holtzman and Laird Jackson, and certified genetic counselors, Janet Ober Berman and Elena Ashkinadze, with the speakers listed in the following report.