Victoria Sacara is a geneticist with more than 25 years of practical experience specialising in the diagnosis of genetic disorders, as well as those found in related couples. In addition, the doctor calculates the degree of risk of hereditary conditions in a child if one of the parents or both are carriers of a genetic disorder.
What are the geneticist’s responsibilities and main duties?
– Examining patients for diagnosis: genetic screening, HLA compatibility testing, DNA diagnostic, chromosomal research, karyotype determination.
– Preparing for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
– Performing and analysing the molecular genetic analysis.
– Offering medical genetic consultations.
Moreover, the tasks of a geneticist include a detailed collection of family history, advising future parents to be examined and consulted by related specialists and health professionals, such as Obstetricians-Gynecologists, cardiologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, haematologists, oncologists, nephrologists, angiologists, and dermatologists.
You should consult your geneticist in case of:
- The need to find out the sex of the child;
- Children born with birth defects (congenital anomaly);
- There are hereditary conditions or developmental disorders in the families of one or both spouses;
- Consanguineous marriage;
- Mothers over 35;
- Previous miscarriages, infertility and stillbirths;
- In the early stages of pregnancy, the mother took medication, underwent chemotherapy or was exposed to harmful environmental factors (radiation, chemicals).