Anyone have the quad screen done?

kellygirl0515

I had mine done this week and disturbing info came back on the DS portion of it.  Our NT scan was beautiful.  I'm kinda stuck as to what to do next.  Any thoughts?  I'm wtg for my high risk Dr to call me back too :-)  Kel

Sassystace

Hi Kelly,

I haven't gotten mine done yet this pg but I know they can give results that cause a lot of worry unnecessarily.  I found this on the Cleveland Clinic Website:

"Out of 1,000 pregnant women, approximately 50 will have quad marker screen results that indicate an increased risk for having a baby with an open neural tube defect. Of those 50 women, only one or two will actually have a baby with an open neural tube defect. About 40 women will have quad marker screen results that show an increased risk for having a baby with Down syndrome and one or two will actually have a baby with Down syndrome. "

I am guessing your high risk doctor will either recommend they do an amnio or just look extra carefully for additional Downs markers during your big u/s.  Hang in there, the odds of everything being ok are in your favor--especially with having a normal NT scan. 

Stacy

thefuturemrskudla

Hi,

Here are my thoughts: there is about a 20% false positive/negative rate with NT scans & screens.  The only was to know whether there are chromosomal abnormalities is with invasive testing (CVS or Aamnio).  I had CVS because I had to know - to me, "odds" did not matter b/c a 20% chance of being wrong was too significant.  If you need to know, either to prepare for a special needs child or to explore termination, you may want to get one of the invasive tests.

Good luck & be well,

Melissa.

Happeewife

I did

My numbers actually improved with the quad. What prompted us to go for the amnio was the Level II Ultrasound - one soft marker. I am also over 35 and wanted peace of mind.

Peppernut

That's what made me go for an amnio, even though the NT scan was fine.  It also made me decide to go with diagnostic, definite-type tests instead of screen-type, because I am just too much of a worrier to handle non-definite results.

rsd12

Yes, fortunately everything looked great - but we had a huge scare with our first & opted for an amnio.  If my numbers were questionable I would have waited till the level II u/s to make a decision to move forward about an amnio. 

nisems

Sounds like a lot of great advice/info has already been given, but FWIW, my OB advised against doing the quad because of the high number of false positives.

gotchagomo

My ob/gyn also told me NOT to get any of the screenings because there are so many false positives. He suggested going straight to amnio, which I did (I'm 41). The relief that gave me has enabled me to thoroughly enjoy my pregnancy now.