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. 2014 Sep 3;3(3):972–985. doi: 10.3390/jcm3030972

Table 1.

Overview comparisons of trophoblasts, fetal nucleated red blood cells, and fetal leucocytes as sources for prenatal diagnosis.

Cell Type Comparison Comments
Trophoblasts Advantages

  • Large cell size, a distinction demonstrated to be an applicable feature in isolation and analysis
Disadvantages

  • Derived from placenta;

  • May be heterogeneous because of multi-nucleation or placental mosaicism;

  • Markers that have not been specific (though recent expression pattern analysis suggests some possibilities)
nRBC’s Advantages

  • Directly derived from fetus;

  • Short lifespan that should minimize persistence from previous pregnancies
Disadvantages

  • Surface markers not sufficiently unique from adult cells;

  • Relatively fragile;

  • Apoptotic processes may lead to inconsistency of analysis;

  • Requires distinction from from pregnancy induced maternal nRBCs
Fetal Leucocytes Advantages

  • Directly derived from fetus
Disadvantages

  • May persist from subsequent pregnancies;

  • Probably rarest of the three cell types in maternal circulation