High Inhibin Levels?

supersarah77

So I got 2nd tri quad screening results today and everything is in normal ranges except I have high inhibin levels. My OB said it's associated with delayed growth, pre-eclampsia, and pre-term birth. She also said she wasn't worried and likely nothing will come of it. I'll just need more frequent ultrasounds. But of course I'm worried! Has anyone else had high inhibin levels? 

danieleandwayne

I was looking around a bit in my maternity nursing books. High inhibin is just kind of getting studied now in the past few years. It *appears* that it is linked to some trisomies (18, 21), but if those have been ruled out, it seems the next serious link with high inhibin levels would be the pre-eclampsia, which may only show up as late as in the last week or two of pregnancy. You'd end up getting mag-sulfate if you got eclampsia or severe pre-e, and that isn't fun, but it's better than the alternative of course.

Did your OB tell you how high your levels are? That may be why your OB isn't super worried-- if your levels are not all that much higher than normal, you'd seem to be at a much smaller risk than if your levels were super high (like 5+).

I would encourage you to have a more in-depth conversation with your OB and have her explain exactly what you can/should expect and what signs you should be aware of that would indicate an urgent need to contact the doctor. Just to give you some better peace of mind.

danuli8

I think the ^$%# quad screen should be abolished. It has a high rate of false positives and tends to make people freak out unnecessarily. But as Danielle said, try and get more exact info on just how high your inhibin was. Hopefully it is not something to be too too concerned about.