In the following section, we will present a list of key references that relate to the biology. phenotype, natural history, management, counseling, and prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 18 and 13. In many of the papers, we will provide a critique. Future issues, will also include a bibliography and critical analysis on papers on other related disorders, especially ones that have similar medical issues to trisomy 18 and 13. Certainly the introduction of FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) in the past year, will precipitate a number of exciting clinical correlation papers in the next few years.

The references are primarily obtained through the Medline of the National Library of Medicine.References from 1988 through 1992 were collected and reviewed. Papers of the last few yearsthat brought up key issues in trisomy 18 and 13 were selected and the editors have provided comments on the most important of these papers. Just to give the reader a sense of the number of papers on trisomy 18 in particular, the Medline search revealed 36 papers in 1989, 41 papers in 1990, and 30 papers in 1991. Topics related to prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 18 represented the dominant theme among these papers. The editors would appreciate any comments about the ensuing discussions.