Trisomy 13 ?

DavezWife

Hi ladies,

I'm more of a regular on another board, but thought I would ask my question here. Hope that's ok?

We just lost our 5th pregnancy, and found out today it was a baby with Trisomy 13.

I was told it was a fluke, lightening won't strike twice... etc. but I'm just wondering if anyone else here has delt with this, and what you know about the odds for future pregnancies, my old eggs being a factor, etc.  

Dr. Google is scary. Any help welcome. thanks.

Jerseygirl16

I don't have experience with trisomy 13 but I did lose a pregnancy to trisomy 5 (also a rare kind of flukey thing).  I went on to have two healthy girls after that.  I was in my early thirties then and am 35 now and pregnant with number 3. 

I am sorry that you went through this but I don't think it happening once increases your chances of it happening again.  Hugs...

sgrl

My first baby had trisomy 22 and I was also told it was a fluke. Everything appears to be ok with my little girl so I'm optimistic that this will be a true SAL for me. I'm so sorry for your losses and I wish you the best of luck moving forward.

minnteacher

No advice... just wanted to say I am very sorry for your loss.

Danielleee

I'm very sorry this has happened to you.  Best wishes in your healing process!

vml14

I'm sorry about your losses.  I lost my baby to Trisomy 18.  Trisomy 13, 18 and 21 are the three most common trisomies that occur in pregnancy, and 13 and 18 are pretty much always considered fatal.  T21 is Downs, and varies much more in its severity. 

We were also told that these types of trisomies have no known cause, and that they simply occur at conception because either the sperm or the egg had 24 chromosomes instead of 23.  I was told that I now have a 1% chance of having a chromosome disorder in pregnancy, which is still low, but higher than it would be for my age.  In my current pregnancy, I was monitored a little bit more thoroughly with several detailed level II ultrasounds from 12-20 weeks to look for the soft markers for chromosome disorders, and so far everything seems fine. 

I hope this helps some, and please don't hesitate to page me if you have other questions.  Hugs to you.

I_am_DCA

It's totally random. Either your egg or his sperm got an extra copy of chromosome 13 when all other chromosomes got a single copy like they should.  The odds of it happening again are very low.

I will tell you that some research is being done on folic acid and its role in nondisjunction.  They think there may be a link between Down's Syndrome (Trisomy 21) and not enough folic acid in the diet.  Obviously this isn't something advertised much in the general public because they don't want to implicate poor diet and trisomies.  But there is some research being done on it now....it will be interesting to see what they find in the next few years. 

Most losses that are preclinical (didn't know she was pregnant) or early are thought to be genetic.  So either too many chromosomes or missing chromosomes.  Only people who have d&c's and genetic testing find out the exact reason.  Rest assured this is the reason *most* early miscarriages happen.  It's natural, it's random and nothing you can do to prevent it.

So all of the literature out there supports that it is totally random.  I would say that extra folic acid doesn't hurt anything.  I take a prenatal that has 800 mcg and I take an extra 1200 mcg daily.  You will pee out what you don't need.  If I can in any way (even if a small way) keep from having another miscarriage, why not?  

Good luck to you!!

I_am_DCA

A follow-up to what VML said.

Trisomies 13, 18, 21 are the most common ones that do not miscarry early. They are compatible with embryonic and fetal life.  All other trisomies are not compatible with embryonic life and the pregnancies terminate on their own.  The first and second trimester screens and ultrasounds help us to detect tri 13,18,21. 

The rate of all trisomies in all pregancies (including preclinical losses, early losses, live births) is probably constant.  Women usually don't know they were pregnant or they did not get the karyotype, so that's why it seems Tri 13, 18, 21 are more common.  They really aren't; they just make it further along.

 HTH.

vml14

I_am_DCA:

A follow-up to what VML said.

Trisomies 13, 18, 21 are the most common ones that do not miscarry early. They are compatible with embryonic and fetal life.  All other trisomies are not compatible with embryonic life and the pregnancies terminate on their own.  The first and second trimester screens and ultrasounds help us to detect tri 13,18,21. 

The rate of all trisomies in all pregancies (including preclinical losses, early losses, live births) is probably constant.  Women usually don't know they were pregnant or they did not get the karyotype, so that's why it seems Tri 13, 18, 21 are more common.  They really aren't; they just make it further along.

 HTH.

Just to clarify my post, according to the Trisomy 18 Foundation website:

The most common trisomy is Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, where a baby has three of the twenty-first chromosome. Trisomy 18 is the second most common trisomy and occurs when a baby has three of the eighteenth chromosome. This results in 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46 in the affected cells. It is this extra genetic material that causes the problems associated with Trisomy 18. The third most common is Trisomy 13, also known as Patau syndrome. 

While I don't disagree with DCAs post that chromosome abnormalities are considered the greatest factor in early losses, it is my understanding that there really is no way of knowing what causes them, or what type of trisomy has occurred, unless there is testing done.  In most cases of early loss, it seems testing is not done.

I_am_DCA

They are talking about viable pregnancies.  Not trying to argue or belabor the point - I can see how what their website says is a little misleading.

I_am_DCA

I just found a website that looks at trisomies and how many miscarriages they are responsible for. A few examples -

Trisomy 2: 0.16% all recognized pregnancies

Tri 4: 2-4% spont miscarriages

Tri 8: 0.8% losses

Tri 10: 1.8% losses

Tri 22: 3-5% spont miscarriages

Monosomy X: 7% spont miscarriages