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Nuchal Translucency Ultrasound
continued from page 1
This test turned out to be available at Queen Charlotte’s, my nearest maternity hospital. Dreading even the small risk of a miscarriage that amniocentesis brings, I opted for the nuchal translucency ultrasound. The reality of the test is that it detects between 60 and 80% of Down Syndrome pregnancies, which means that between 20 and 40% of foetuses with a ‘normal’ measurement (currently below 2.5mm) can be born with Down’s Syndrome or another abnormality. On the other hand, foetuses with abnormal measurement have been known to turn out perfectly healthy. The measurements, plus maternal age, are then fed into a computer, and the statistical probability comes out. Mine went down from 1 in 42 to 1 in 310 for that stage of the pregnancy. If the result is less than 1 in 250, then the pregnancy is judged to be high risk, and you are offered an amniocentesis. I had just scraped through – a consequence of my age, rather than the modest 1.6mm measurement of the foetus’s nuchal fold. Approximately 30% of affected pregnancies are lost naturally, so the probability goes down further as the pregnancy goes on.
This test turned out to be available at Queen Charlotte’s, my nearest maternity hospital. Dreading even the small risk of a miscarriage that amniocentesis brings, I opted for the nuchal translucency ultrasound. The reality of the test is that it detects between 60 and 80% of Down Syndrome pregnancies, which means that between 20 and 40% of foetuses with a ‘normal’ measurement (currently below 2.5mm) can be born with Down’s Syndrome or another abnormality. On the other hand, foetuses with abnormal measurement have been known to turn out perfectly healthy. The measurements, plus maternal age, are then fed into a computer, and the statistical probability comes out. Mine went down from 1 in 42 to 1 in 310 for that stage of the pregnancy. If the result is less than 1 in 250, then the pregnancy is judged to be high risk, and you are offered an amniocentesis. I had just scraped through – a consequence of my age, rather than the modest 1.6mm measurement of the foetus’s nuchal fold. Approximately 30% of affected pregnancies are lost naturally, so the probability goes down further as the pregnancy goes on.
The nuchal fold scan is followed up at 20 weeks by the routine anomaly scan offered to all pregnant mothers. This looks for ‘soft markers’ of chromosomal disorders such as heart defects, enlarged kidneys and shortened limbs. Again, there are no certainties.
Doctors shower you with statistics. In the end, you have to take a cool view (not easy with all those hormones whizzing around your system) of the comparative risks, and make up your own mind.
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