6mm measurement of Nuchal Fold (Scan done at 22 weeks)

[Mommabrown]

So i was at the Dr's yesterday and they hit me with a ton of bricks that they found something wrong with our baby. Her nuchal fold is measuring to small. I was then told how if it were to thick they could run blood test to see if it was Downs Syndrome but because it is to small i am having to go see a specialist and have another u/s done. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and baby came out fine.

I will love her and take care of her no matter what happens but i am trying to prepare myself for what is to come.

UPDATE So Doctor's office called back after me calling with concerns. Due to him delivering a baby the night before and my appointment being first thing that morning he told me the measurements backwards. Her nuchal fold should be <5mm and hers is measuring at 6mm. Not only that because they found some other abnormalities we are going to see the specialist for scan, blood work, and to speak with a geneticist on the 15th of Jan. I have updated the title of the post so anyone reading could understand any confusion i have caused. So my question is anyone have their baby be okay with a scan result like this???

 

[CupcakeBaby]

Sorry that you're going through this. Sending you wishes that it al works out fine for you.

I didn't know a Nuchal measurement could be too small?

 

[Moorebetter]

too small?? I dont understand .. if you are 26 weeks.....


The NT scan must be done when you're between 11 and 14 weeks pregnant, because this is when the base of your baby's neck is still transparent. (The last day you can have it done is the day you turn 13 weeks and 6 days pregnant.) It's usually offered along with an evaluation for the presence or absence of nasal bone, as well as a blood test, in what's known as first-trimester combined screening.

 

[Moorebetter]

AccuracyBetween 65 and 85% of trisomic fetuses will have a large nuchal thickness. Further, other, non-trisomic abnormalities may also demonstrate an enlarged nuchal transparency. This leaves the measurement of nuchal transparency as a potentially useful 1st trimester screening tool. Abnormal findings allow for early careful evaluation of chromosomes and possible structural defects on a targeted basis.

At 12 weeks of gestational age, an "average" nuchal thickness of 2.18mm has been observed, however, up to 13% of chromosomally normal fetuses present with a nuchal lucency of greater than 2.5mm, and thus for even greater accuracy of predicting risks, the outcome of the nuchal scan may be combined with the results of simultaneous maternal blood tests. In pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome there is a tendency for the levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to be increased and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) to be decreased.

The advantage of nuchal scanning over the previous use of just biochemical blood profiling, is mainly the reduction in false positive rates.[7]

Nuchal scanning alone detects 62% of all Down's Syndrome with a false positive rate of 5.0%, the combination with blood testing gives corresponding values of 73% and 4.7%.[8]

In another study values of 79.6% and 2.7% for the combined screening were then improved with the addition of second trimester ultrasound scanning to 89.7% and 4.2% respectively.[9] A further study reported detection of 88% for trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and 75% for trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), with a 3.3% false-positive rate.[10] Finally, using the additional ultrasound feature of an absent nasal bone can further increase detection rates for Down syndrome to more than 95%.[11]

When screening is positive, Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis testing is required to confirm the presence of a genetic abnormality. However this procedure carries a small risk of miscarriage so prior screening with low false positive rates are needed to minimize the chance of miscarrying.

 

[Scout]

I didn't know it could be too small. Good luck, hun, I know you must be worried.

 

[Jcliff]

Im confused as well. I didnt think too small was a problem. Also, you seem to be too far along to have just been told this?

 

[Moorebetter]

the dates arent adding up hon. I agree with the last poster why are you just finding this out? the smaller the better

 

[Mommabrown]

This wasnt for the NT scan. This was because they had to get measurements for the babys growth scan. I too thought the smaller the better. It becomes a fold after 20 weeks when transparency is no longer visable. I am not sure why my doctor is so concerned now but he is urging to get into this specialist as soon as possible. He made me aware it wasn't to thick and they are not concerned with that but that her measurements are way too small for her gestational age and as per my Dr it indicates a congenital heart defect.

 

[Katrina18]

Hope everything turns out ok..keep us updated on your little girl!

 

[Runlikeagirl]

This wasnt for the NT scan. This was because they had to get measurements for the babys growth scan. I too thought the smaller the better. It becomes a fold after 20 weeks when transparency is no longer visable. I am not sure why my doctor is so concerned now but he is urging to get into this specialist as soon as possible. He made me aware it wasn't to thick and they are not concerned with that but that her measurements are way too small for her gestational age and as per my Dr it indicates a congenital heart defect.

Hello mommabrown
When u had ur 20wk scan what did the doc say about ur lo heart?? They should've been able to see defects, I guess if they didn't see ant defects, I wld not worry. I had my 20 wk scan and doc told me tat my nuchal fold was thick, measuring 7 cm. and it shld be less than 6, so we spoke to the genetic counselor who reccomend I have further blood test drawn. Just got results back today, and my lo is normal. I bet things will be fine!!

 

[karolynca]

I don't see how come they are measuring that at this stage, as other poster said Nuchal cord measurements at this stage are useless and can't be read correctly. Plus in the 20-24 weeks ultrasound they should have checked heart and brain among other things to properly say anything.

Keep us posted but I am kind of confused with the approach your Dr. is taking.

 

[HopinAndPrayn]

I think we're talking about two different tests. They can either do the Nuchal Translucency test around the 12/13 week mark or they can do the Nuchal fold measurement up to about 22 weeks. I declined the Nuchal Translucency test since the results of it wouldn't have changed anything for us except maybe causing undue stress. They do say the Nuchal Translucency test is more effective in detecting Downs Syndrome, they consider the Nuchal Fold test a "soft marker" because it's less predictive. They took the Nuchal Fold measurement for me at my 20 week anomaly scan but I don't know the result.

I imagine it's very scary MommaBrown but I've heard PLENTY of stories from other women who were terrified by a doctor's analysis of measurements only to have everything turn out to be fine. Hopefully you can get into the specialist quickly!