The test uses next generation sequencing to look for chromosomal abnormalities in the pregnancy and results are typically returned to your doctor within a month of sample receipt. In some cases it may indicate a genetic condition which could have been inherited from the baby’s mother or father in which case further parental testing will help to find out if the loss was sporadic or if there is an increased risk for future pregnancies. It may also help identify a genetic explanation for recurrent miscarriage.

Approximately 15% of pregnancies end up in spontaneous abortion. It is estimated that around 1% of couples, have recurrent miscarriages i.e. three or more consecutive losses during 24 months. The cause of the recurrent abortions can vary (age, uterine pathology, hereditary thrombophilia and even nutritional or environmental factors).
However, genetic factors appear to play the most important role. In many cases, one of the members of the couple has a chromosomal abnormality, of which reciprocal translocations are among the most frequent. Reciprocal translocation carriers don’t present a particular phenotype, however a large number of gametes with unbalanced translocations are produced resulting miscarriage.

This condition is often analysed by techniques such as karyotype and/or FISH. However, both techniques have different limitations (cell culture requirement, selective growth of maternal cells, test specificity etc.) The DACrA array has been specifically designed to identify copy number alterations from abortion remain tissue, multiplying by 10 the resolution of the karyotype and avoiding the need for culturing cells