Quad Screen Question

texasmeg1

Help me out here. What are your opinions on the quad screen? Everything came back great on our NT scan... so should I opt out of the quad screen? The only additional test the quad screen dows is for neural tube defects, correct?

You can tell that I've obviously done my research

hopefulmom81

We elected to do it even though we had a great NT scan.

Yes, one of the reasons for it is for neural tube defects, but also a few other chromosomal abnormalities. 

We just figured that the more things we could rule out the more confident we could be going forward, plus if something came out "wonky" we could follow up and make the best plan of action for our family. 

nikkks84

i too had a great nt scan with my risk being 1in 5000 . i had a quad screen too..my insurance covered it so i didnt think much of it,,, it is always a good reassurance when everything comes out normal .

MickeyM04

I wasn't given the option of doing the quad screen...they just drew my blood and told me they were checking for spina bifida.  Well a few days later I got a call that my risk of DS had gone from 1:1300+ to 1:113.  Which led to a lot of torment/anxiety/etc. over whether to get the amnio (should we get it, what would we do if we found out it was DS, what if we got the amnio and it caused a m/c, etc.)...then we did get the amnio and waiting for the results was even worse than trying to decide whether to get the amnio in the first place.  And after 2 weeks of hell before we finally got the FINAL results showing everything was A-OK, I said to myself, I would NEVER get the quad screen again.  It was hands down the worst two weeks of my life (other than my m/c), and it was all basically for nothing, since everything turned out OK.  But I'm obviously biased because we had such a horrible experience.  So take my opinion with a grain of salt please!

chloebeth930

I declined it.  The NT scan is more accurate.  I knew that as soon as I got the results back I would be comparing them to my NT scan and if they weren't as good I would be freaked out. 

In regards for neural defects, I decided that once we got the results back from the anatomy scan, if they saw something concerning that I would do the quad screen then.

texasmeg1

Thanks for the replies!

Babymamawithdrama

Nt scan is relatively new (last 10 yrs or so) and the quad screen has been established for approx. 40 yrs (I think that was what my Dr. Said). The NT scan generates a higher false positive of an abnormality, that is why some Dr.'s don't recommend it, however it could alert to a potential problem earlier than the quad screen. My son's NT scan showed an increased probability of down syndrome (which he does not have), so with this pregnancy I declined the nt scan, however still did the quad screen. It is a comfortability thing and I think the quad looks for multiple things and not necessarily the same things as the nt scan (although some things overlap)