Why AFP test only?

[jacinda]

Hi Ladies,
I was wondering if you could help me.
At 12 weeks I had an NT scan and also blood drawn (free beta HCG and Papp-a). The results showed that I have very low chances of any of the three trisomies. This was done in Poland.
Now I'm in Canada and they gave me a referral for an AFP test only (to be done between 16 and 20 weeks). I'm wondering why I'm not having the Quad test (AFT, hCG, estriol and inhibin B). Is it because I already had the first trimester screening?

 

[Dream.dream]

Hi Ladies,
I was wondering if you could help me.
At 12 weeks I had an NT scan and also blood drawn (free beta HCG and Papp-a). The results showed that I have very low chances of any of the three trisomies. This was done in Poland.
Now I'm in Canada and they gave me a referral for an AFP test only (to be done between 16 and 20 weeks). I'm wondering why I'm not having the Quad test (AFT, hCG, estriol and inhibin B). Is it because I already had the first trimester screening?

I'm in Canada and only had the triple screen at 12 weeks . I don't know if your at a higher risk group or birth defects but some doctors dont run more then the triple screen with your 12 week scan and then order the 18-20 weeks scan . If there were issues they would see markers in your ultrasound any ways .

Could alway ask your doctor why they ran what they did?

 

[TMonster]

I think afp is for spina bifida and an additional down's marker after 16 weeks. High afp may indicate spina bifida and low afp may be indicative of down's.

My afp was borderline high but it turned out to be a false positive most likely because I bled during pregnancy early on. The doctor told me it was nothing but an ultrasound and later an amnio (for different reasons) confirmed it.

 

[thayet]

In Canada they don't measure beta HCG and papp-a past 13+2 weeks. If you are coming into the health care system in your second trimester, you get the second trimester only version, which includes the AFP measurement and sometimes an extra scan at 16 weeks. If anything looked abnormal from your previous results, they would send you to genetic counseling for an amnio, but since you said everything was fine, they likely won't recommend it.

Hope this helps.

 

[jacinda]

Thank you for all the info. Well, I had all the genetic testing in Poland (fHCG, Papp-a and the scan), and everything came out perfect. So I think I'm going to opt out of the AFP test and just have a scan at 20 weeks. I had a scan yesterday (15 weeks) because I had some problems before and they wanted to check that everything was OK after the flight, so we'll see what comes out of that. Hopefully, everything will be OK.
Many thanks for all the input.