Failed Harmony Test, is Nifty an Option?

[Feisty Fidget]

Hi lovelies

We were advised that we were high risk for T13 and T18 at our 12 weeks combined screening scan/bloods. Prior to this shock I had never heard of Edwards and Patau syndrome so you can bet we were terrified

After a lot of tears and tantrums we decided to listen to the advice of our midwife and scrape together the £500 needed for a harmony test at the foetal medicine centre in London. We had the test a week ago and were relieved to be told that the scan was looking good, but advised they needed the bloods to confirm we were in fact low risk.

I had a call from them yesterday advising the test had come back as failed, I was offered a partial refund or a re-test. I was warned that the re-test only had a 50% chance of success.

Obviously I feel like we are still in limbo and desperately want an answer to whether we are high risk (as the NHS believes) or low risk (as the in-depth private scan indicated). However, getting re-tested causes all sorts of issues (we are in the west country so it is a high expense going again for a 5 minute blood sample appointment) and I'd also need to take another day off work. Deep down I know our blood test will fail again (if something is going to go wrong, it always does for us!).

Does anyone know if the Nifty test will have a better chance at a positive result? Part of me is wondering if it's worth a partial refund (not available if I have the re-test) and going for the Nifty, or are the tests so similar that the chances of enough DNA material being drawn in my sample are likely to be the same?

 

[Willow01]

Is there any chance your blood could be taken somewhere closer, from your doctor or nurse and then forwarded onto the company for testing? From my reading up on these tests they are all very similar. Good luckx

 

[Feisty Fidget]

Thanks for your reply. My midwife offered to take the sample and then for me to get it couriered, but the clinic said no

 

[Willow01]

How frustrating! Have you made any decisions yet about what you will do then with regards to the tests?x

 

[Feisty Fidget]

If the harmony or nifty comes back as high risk I will have the amnio. I don't even want to think about what we will do if that comes back as positive.

 

[Hay1988]

I have just had the nifty. I asked about the harmony one but they dont advertise it as its more expensive and less acurate than the nifty x

 

[likeaustralia]

I'd get a retest done, personally. I know it's an extra appointment, drive, etc, but the information is really important.

 

[Cattia]

I had the NIFTY done through 'this is my' clinic which is based up north somewhere. I had my blood taken at my local hospital on the south coast. They sent me the pack and I had to pay about £15 to the hospital to get this done privately. I then sent it by courier which I think was about £7. The test itself cost £350 including the registration fee and I had the results in two weeks (tests were all fine and it also confirmed the gender). I was low risk at my 12 and 20 week scan but decided to have the test done at 21 weeks (just before the cut off point) as my DH and I are both older and I wanted the peace of mind. The service from the clinic was great and this was the cheapest I could find the test anywhere in the UK. It is bloods only and does not include a scan.

 

[julesjules100]

There is no difference in the sensitivity of NIFTY and Harmony for Trisomy 21 or 18. NIFTY is better on Trisomy 13 (>99%) whereas Harmony is 80%. There is a newer one called Panorama which is slightly better than NIFTY and can pick up more. For interest, if you go to page 4 of this document it compares Harmony and Panorama (NIFTY results can be picked up off their website). https://www.theportlandhospital.com/uploads/maternity/harmony_test.pdf

I was in a similar boat with needing a retest on the Panorama. I opted to do it as as a pp poster said, it's important info and far more accurate than nuchal scans. I also wanted to get a Harmony test done (I had had one done for my son a few years back so had more confidence in that one) as was concerned that for some reason the Panorama wasn't working for me. They said not to bother as it was either that I was too early and there wasn't sufficient fetal DNA in my blood or that the DNA had deteriorated in transit (apparently quite common). I did get a result on the repeat but it was another long wait. I would have a retest done on the Harmony but I'm surprised that they are saying there is only a 50% chance of it working - the redraw rate is only 5% so there is an excellent chance of them getting it a second time!

Fingers crossed for you! x