Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis [letter].

Turner and associates cited cystic fibrosis as an example of the application 
of the judicious use of genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. The 
reader who is unfamiliar with genetic disorders, prenatal diagnosis, and genetic 
counseling may have taken the "cystic fibrosis example" as fact rather 
than a model, as intended. Cystic fibrosis is a recessive disorder 
for which prenatal diagnosis and heterozygote detection are not yet possible. 
Currently, because of the present inability to detect the heterozygous state, 
genetic counseling of individuals with a family history of cystic fibrosis 
frequently means a statistical prediction is given, rather than a precise 
recurrence risk. 