PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

Hello,

I am in my 9th week of pregnancy. I went for my first official appointment last night and was informed of different things. I was told of the "optional" type testing such as an Ultra Screen between 11 and 13 weeks and then there was I think an NT later on which also detects down syndrome (or chances) as well as other abnormalities. My girlfriend mentioned about a lot of false positives. Is this wih the ULTRA SCREEN or the NT?

Did most of you have it done? It makes me so nervous. How long do the results take and is it a yes no result or just a percentage?

Thanks,
Keri

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

basically the POINT of an ultrascreen is to have a sono and get the baby's measurements. one of the tests is the nuchal translucency test, which measure the amount of fluid at the back of the baby's neck, and coupled with the finger prick blood test, can tell whether you are at increased risk for a DS baby.

ETA: i guess it would be optional but i can't imagine someone not wanting to see their baby on a sono - it's an amazing experience!!

Message edited 3/5/2008 11:52:15 AM.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

see I have no idea on this either b/c I did an amnio my dr didnt do any of those tests.

my friends have had false positives i think with the AFP test some test that tests for down syndrome a blood test.

this time around same thing just going right into amnio.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

My u/s was not a sonogram. To be crude they stick a stick up the wazzoie for the sonogram and roll a reader OVER your tummy for the u/s.

Although I hear the u/s for down syndrome testing is optional, it may not be optional for every doctor. My doctor did not leave it up to ‘optional’. He had my u/s schedule just after my 8week sonogram. I am 32 so maybe that’s something to do with it?

Still. I haven’t heard false positives from measuring the fluid spacing (which is so cool by the way). Still if you are thinking of it as ‘optional’ choice, go for it. You get to see the little baby jumping all around. It’s kinda neat. If it’s the results you’re worried about, well I don’t believe they are 100% accurate on this test, regardless. There’s another test down the line to really hammer it down. Take it one day at a time and realize what will be will be. I’d suggest going for it.

Hope your nerves settle.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I opted not to get this for either of my pregnancies. This is a controversial test. There are SO many false/positives. And my friend just went through a nightmare of one. She is pregnant with her 3rd child and just did the test, as routine, thought nothing of it. The results came back possibility of downs. Now her options were amnio, which she had to wait 2 weeks to get, and then another 2 weeks for results.

After a few weeks of turmoil, she was starting to lean toward no amnio because she would keep her baby regardless. She then saw a genetic counselor who told her that her blood work was in normal range. She was very confused. They told her the baby's neck was thick and that was another indicator of downs. The genetic counselor saw how torn she was over getting the amnio (could break the water and lose baby) and gave her another sonogram and saw the baby's neck was fine. Just a few days off in measurement can make SUCH a difference. They said the baby may have been positioned funny when they did the ultrascreen. She is so relieved and said she will NEVER do that test again and wishes she was more informed of all the false/positives.

It's a very personal choice.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

Personally, my DH and I would like to know as much as we can about the baby. I cannot exactly say what we do in different situations, all I know is, I worry enough as it is and I am hoping these tests come back fine and give me some peace of mind. We'd also like to be prepared for any challenges we may face.

It is a personal decision like everyone has said and you should be aware of all the possibilities (false positives, degree of certainty, steps to follow, etc.) I am opting to have any non-invasive test at this time.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

we're getting one done next week.... basically, I made the decision becuase the alternative was more invasive (amnio), which has some risks...

I hope the results will eliminate the need for an amnio (I'm 36)

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I had my ultra screen at 12 weeks 5 days. Before that test, based on age alone, my chances of having a child with DS was 1 in 176. They went up to 1 in 318 after the ultra screen. I am still having an amnio. I feel more settled about it now. I am 37 now and will be 38 when I am to deliver.

Message edited 3/5/2008 2:43:59 PM.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I had the ultrascreen because it is non-invasive. I knew ahead of time that it wouldn't give me a yes/no answer, but I wanted any information I could get.
The sonogram was amazing - it was the first time we saw the baby looking like a baby! The tech took the measurements she needed, then I had the finger prick. They test that blood for 2 different proteins (I forget which). The results of both parts give you your chances, 1:xxx, that the baby could have ds.
For me, I'm 36, so my chances were 1:218 before the test just based on my age. They got a little better, but not much, after the test, so DH & I opted for the amnio. It was a really hard decision, but we felt it was the best one for us.

There's also an AFP test, which is a blood test at 15-18 weeks. That's another non-invasive screening test which I believe tests for spina bifida. Since we were having an amnio, I didn't get this one.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I didn't do any testing like that when I was preggo w/Hayley. Now this time I am 36 and the Dr suggested having an amnio or these tests. I am doing the tests first. If they come back with high chances then I will opt for an amnio.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I have mine on Friday at 11w2d. To be completely honest I am not even really concerned with what they have to say about Down's. I'm sure everything with be okay, the likelihood of there being something wrong with this baby at my age is fairly slim. My reasoning for having the Ultra Screen (although the doctor didn't present it as a choice) is simply, to see the baby!! I cannot wait to see how much the baby has grown and to hear his/her HB again. As I come to the end of the 1st trimester I just think it will be nice to have the piece of mind that the baby is healthy and growing strong. I can't wait!!!!!!!!

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

i agree with the other poster in that it is a very personal decision with my son my DH and i decided that we did not want to have a DS test done as we were informed by the doctor that there were alot of false positives and we personally would not terminate the pregnancy if the baby did have DS so we felt there was no need for the test.

we were keeping this baby no matter what.

we had a beautiful healthy baby boy and no worries with our decision.

at the end of the day you have to think if the result did come back positive or negative for DS would it affect your overall decsion towards the baby??

for us there was no question

good luck

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I had the NT test but declined the AFP with my second guy.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

We had the ultrascreen for two reasons - my age and we wanted a sonogram. Also, I really didn't want an amnio because I wouldn't be able to terminate anyway.

The ultrascreen has a false positive rate of 5% as opposed to the AFP, which has a false positive rate of 15%.

The reason the ultrascreen has a much lower false positive is because they take into account the results from the bloodwork, sonogram, age and family history. The chance of DS is gauged by all factors.

The AFP has a much higher false positive because all they do is take blood and make a conclusion from the bloodwork.

We had both done, the ultrascreen we did happily. The AFP I only did because my Dr. was adamant since it screens for spinal bifida also. I went for my Level II sonogram before I got the results from the AFP, so I know the baby doesn't have spinal bifida...which made the AFP moot, but whatever.

You have to decide what is right for you. Good luck.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

I opted not to do the ultrascreen. I have heard of people getting false positives on the first test with blood and sono. In addition I didn't want an amnio. The way we looked at it why give us unnecessary stress - if GOd forbid something did show we would not change our pregnancy. The dr. said if I felt that strongly it wasn't worth doing the test.

Re: PLEASE Explain Your Experience To Me With The ULTRA-SCREEN

Nuchal translucency is the measurement of the space from the back of the fetal neck to the skin overlying the neck. This refers to an observation that abnormal fetuses tend to show an accumulation of fluid in this area and have an increased risk of having a variety of chromosome abnormalities present, including the common Down syndrome.
It is believed that this increased fluid is due to heart defects common to babies with chromosomal abnormalities. The NT test alone will detect about 80% of all Down Syndrome fetuses with about a 5% false positive rate.

The blood test used during Ultrascreen is looking at PAPP-A & HCG (freebeta).Screening for these two biochemical analytes alone (without the NT measurement) allows for a 65% detection of Down syndrome in the first trimester.

When these two screening modalities are combined in an Ultrascreen, between 85-91% of Down syndrome pregnancies can be detected between 11-14 weeks of pregnancy and 97% detection of other chromosome abnormalities.

If you want more info please feel free to FM...

My eldest daughter has Down Syndrome so Im pretty well versed on the current tesing available.