A test that can detect Down’s syndrome from the blood of pregnant women, which would be the first reliable noninvasive prenatal test for the chromosomal disorder, has raised the prospect of routine screening for the condition for every expectant mother who wants it.

The experimental procedure, developed in Hong Kong, has been shown to diagnose 90 percent of Down’s syndrome cases in a small trial, while also correctly identifying 97 percent of fetuses that do not have the condition.

If its accuracy can be improved and it is validated in larger patient trials, which scientists believe should take three to five years, it would transform prenatal testing for Down’s.

At present this is provided only for women at high risk of having a Down’s baby because the current procedure is invasive and can cause a miscarriage. It requires amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS), which involve inserting a needle into the womb to remove amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus, or a small piece of the placenta.

Australian surgeons are being credited for saving the leg of an unborn baby by operating on her while her mother was just 22 weeks pregnant, French news agency AFP is reporting.

The hospital told AFP Monday that this may be the earliest in utero surgery of its kind.

Baby Leah was diagnosed with a condition called amniotic band syndrome in which bands of tissue wrap themselves around a developing fetus’ limbs, hands or feet and cut off blood flow. Doctors say the tissue had wrapped around both Leah’s legs.

A hospital spokeswoman told AFP that doctors usually hold off on operating until 28 weeks of pregnancy to better the baby’s chances for survival. However, Leah risked losing both legs if doctors had waited in this case.

 When an Ohio woman looked at an ultrasound she expected to see a developing fetus.Instead, she saw what she believes to be an image of Jesus Christ, MyFox Cleveland reported on its Web site.

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