hi girls
Here's an update from NT scan yesterday.
The scan was done by a KK hospital doctor whose from the Maternal Fetal Medicine department, Dr Kwek. Apparently, specialised scans like this requires the expertise of specially trained doctor who purchase special softwares for calculation of risk.
However, the measurement taken by my doc on 15 Feb is the same as the measurement taken by the Dr Kwek so my doctor told me yesterday that he knew how to measure but lack the software for calculation of risks.
My scan took a long time as the baby not in a cooperative position and keeps turning and tossing. I had to cough hard for a couple of times, move my body left and right, sit up and still couldn't get the baby to be in the sleep position. Doctor said I have a very naughty baby hehehe. In the end, doctor managed to measure the neckfold from various position but still lack the nose bone measurement.
In the end, I had to leave the room with my scan half completed to walk around the hospital. I look like a ku-ku walking round and round and round the clinic for about 15 minutes (especially when the clinic is not very big to begin with)
Then, after that went back into the room. Finally baby behaved and in the correct position. Doctor quickly took measurement of the nose and told me my results immediately as it's only a matter of inputting the figures onto a software in a laptop and the results will be out immediately.
neckfold: 1.7mm
nose bone: 2.1mm
DS risk solely based on age (30 years old): 1 in 533
After inputting measurements taken: 1 in 2029
Simply based on the NT scan, I belong to the low risk group. However the blood test will either increase or lower the risk further.
The nurses took my blood for 2 different kind of bloodtest yesterday. One antenatal bloodtest which test your blood group, HIV, Hep B etc etc
The 2nd bloodtest which in combination with the NT scan (called the Combined test, done between 11-14 weeks, baby smaller than 85mm) will give us a 90+% chances of detecting Down cases. A few percentage of down cases have very similar readings as normal babies thus unable to detect due to the overlap.
The down bloodtest test for:
--hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin)
--PAPP-A (pregnancy associated plasma protein)
A woman who is carrying a baby with Down's syndrome will have abnormal levels of these two substances in her blood.
If you don't wish to screen for down in the First Trimester, you could also do the double or triple or Quadruple test in your 15-20 weeks
--The Double Test: measures two markers, hCG and AFP
--The Triple Test: measures three markers, hCG, AFP and uE3
--The Quadruple Test: measures four markers, hCG, AFP, uE3 and inhibin A.
Disadvantages of second trimester screening
--They aren't as good at detecting babies with Down's syndrome as first trimester tests. The double test detects about 59 per cent and the quadruple, about 75 per cent. Blood tests are more accurate in older women (because older women are more likely to have babies with Down's syndrome).
--By the time you get the results, you will be well into your pregnancy. If your risk is high, you have to decide whether to have an amniocentesis to confirm that your baby has Down's. If he does, you have to decide whether to have a termination. A termination may be more traumatic at this stage of pregnancy.
This is so far what I've found out re down screening.
Hope it helps.
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