Abnormal Quad Screen

Legal Eagle · 07-02-2008, 09:45 AM

I was wondering if anyone here had an abnormal Quad screen with a risk for Downs and ended up with a normal baby. I just got the dreaded call yesterday. I have an u/s tomorrow and an amnio next tuesday. I could use some positive vibes. I had to leave work yesterday because I was crying.

NicMarc1213 · 07-02-2008, 10:10 AM

I had the same thing happen when I was around 17 weeks pg. My results said that the baby had a 1 in 10 chance of being born with Trisomy 18, which is fatal. I was very torn on whether or not to do the amnio with the risk of miscarriage. I decided to do it b/c if something was wrong with the baby I wanted to prepare myself. My baby boy was born perfectly healthy at 39 weeks.

There is a very high false positive rate with these tests. I don't even know why we get them?! Try to relax...I know easier said than done. If you need anything, let me know.

nspear · 07-02-2008, 02:31 PM

The high false positive rate, and the fact that there was nothing I could do to fix something that was wrong were the reasons I didn't have the tests done. Haveing said that obviously I have no advice to give first hand.. but I think every post I have seen on here in the last five years or so that had the same situation ended up haveing perfectly normal healthy babies!

Good luck!

StephPortmann · 07-02-2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspear
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The high false positive rate, and the fact that there was nothing I could do to fix something that was wrong were the reasons I didn't have the tests done. Haveing said that obviously I have no advice to give first hand.. but I think every post I have seen on here in the last five years or so that had the same situation ended up haveing perfectly normal healthy babies!

Good luck!

I didnt have the blood test done for the same reason. Although, I did have the u/s done. When everything looked normal on the scan I said no to the blood test. Even if I did have the blood test and something came wrong. I don't think I would of had the amnio. But i worry a lot.

Some times I regret not having the lood test. BC sometimes I think..."what if"..

Katie~n~Hans · 07-02-2008, 03:11 PM

I had a bad (now we are talking very bad) u/s screening. They (the Dr.) even had the balls to tell me that "we usually see babies like this miscarry in the early weeks". (not something you want to hear at your first u/s) I was around 12 weeks. They didn't even want to do the blood test. They scheduled me for a CVS the next day. Now, having had both a cvs and an amnio (on more than one pg) I would not hesitate to do it again. Now, does that mean I would have aborted if I had gotten bad news...No, actually most people who do have a cvs or amnio done do NOT choose to have an abortion regardless of the outcome of the testing. (sorry sore point with me, everyone just assumes that you have the testing done to decide to abort or not, truth is MOST people have the testing done so they are prepared financially, emotionally and medically to take care of whatever problems might arise from the situation) Now having said that, There is a high rate of false positives, in the times I have been on the boards here, I have only personally known of 3 maybe 4 cases where there was a condition affecting the baby. I would say to try and relax until you know something positively but I know that it's way to hard to do that. If you do have the amnio, check with your insurance agency as well as with the agency doing the amnio and see if they are able to do a fast response test. It gives you the preliminary report faster than the amnio (or at least they can do that with a CVS, so talk to your dr. about it). However, it is expensive so see if your insurance will cover it first! Good Luck.

thirteen · 07-02-2008, 03:38 PM

My Quad Screen showed an increased risk of Downs when I was pg with my first. I'd gone back & forth over and over about whether to have the blood test and ultimately decided to heed everyone's advice and just do it. But the moment I got the dreaded call I wished I hadn't.

My risk was about 1:100 for Downs. I had to wait a week before I could get in for the level ii u/s and it was the longest week of my life. Everyday I cried and worried. At the u/s the dr didn't find any "soft markers" or signs of Down Syndrome, aside from some white spots on the baby's heart. The dr told us the spots are a very poor indicator of Downs and can also be indicative of a normal healthy baby without heart problems. But because they were there, he couldn't change our odds.

We thought long & hard about whether to do an amnio. Knowing that the amnio carried risks and that we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy either way, plus reading between the lines of what the dr was telling us, we decided it wasn't necessary. After all, we had at least a 99% chance the baby wouldn't have Downs and the dr all but told us he thought the baby was fine. DS was born at 40w 5d perfectly healthy in every way.

In the months following our u/s I often thought about the quad screen and the fact that it just flags when there *might* be an issue for a couple of problems... But what about all the other things that could go wrong - vision or hearing issues, mental retardation, organ defects, etc. Some of these things won't show up on any test or u/s and we'll have to deal with them when the baby is born. So why stress ourselves testing for a couple of things that we can't change anyway? Needless to say I didn't do the quad screen this time around. I'm happier to rely on the u/s for any major concerns and trust that whatever will be will be.
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Wishing you good luck and peace at your u/s tomorrow! Update us as soon as you can.

StephPortmann · 07-02-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thirteen
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My Quad Screen showed an increased risk of Downs when I was pg with my first. I'd gone back & forth over and over about whether to have the blood test and ultimately decided to heed everyone's advice and just do it. But the moment I got the dreaded call I wished I hadn't.

My risk was about 1:100 for Downs. I had to wait a week before I could get in for the level ii u/s and it was the longest week of my life. Everyday I cried and worried. At the u/s the dr didn't find any "soft markers" or signs of Down Syndrome, aside from some white spots on the baby's heart. The dr told us the spots are a very poor indicator of Downs and can also be indicative of a normal healthy baby without heart problems. But because they were there, he couldn't change our odds.

We thought long & hard about whether to do an amnio. Knowing that the amnio carried risks and that we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy either way, plus reading between the lines of what the dr was telling us, we decided it wasn't necessary. After all, we had at least a 99% chance the baby wouldn't have Downs and the dr all but told us he thought the baby was fine. DS was born at 40w 5d perfectly healthy in every way.

In the months following our u/s I often thought about the quad screen and the fact that it just flags when there *might* be an issue for a couple of problems... But what about all the other things that could go wrong - vision or hearing issues, mental retardation, organ defects, etc. Some of these things won't show up on any test or u/s and we'll have to deal with them when the baby is born. So why stress ourselves testing for a couple of things that we can't change anyway? Needless to say I didn't do the quad screen this time around. I'm happier to rely on the u/s for any major concerns and trust that whatever will be will be.
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Wishing you good luck and peace at your u/s tomorrow! Update us as soon as you can.

I totally agree with what you said. What about all the other things that could be wrong? I think about it daily. It kind of lets me know I did the right thing by not getting the test done. Otherwise, I might have way more to worry about. Most things you just won't know until the time of birth anyway.

Holdensmom · 07-02-2008, 04:36 PM

I know those tests have a high false positive rate. Hang in there. I'm sure everything is fine. Good luck.

Legal Eagle · 07-03-2008, 10:22 AM

Thanks everyone. My u/s is at 12:30 today

missinnocence · 07-03-2008, 10:34 AM

Please remember that you can always decline the QUAD screen to begin with...we do them because people want them done...but if you don't want it, you don't have to have it. I've had a few patients who declined a QUAD screen. It's your right!

Inno

ETA: Good luck with your US today!

thirteen · 07-03-2008, 10:35 AM

Good luck today!

smedleysttc03 · 07-04-2008, 11:58 AM

any news?

uwalcott · 07-04-2008, 02:52 PM

Legal-- good luck with the US!

Here's another reason I don't think much of the quad screen-- besides a high rate of false positives, there are false negatives too, and it doesn't test for everything that could be wrong even chromosomally. My Elisa had a perfectly normal AFP test and turned out to have chromosomal abnormalities. The quad screen just can't "see" things like unbalanced translocations. But this time I will probably get it and the amnio too, just because I am paranoid about this happening again.

Katie~n~Hans · 07-07-2008, 01:24 AM

Just checking to see if there was an update!

Legal Eagle · 07-07-2008, 01:05 PM

My u/s showed no markers, but DH and I decided we are going to get the amnio. It is tomorrow am. I think the harm to the baby by 5 more months of me stressing might get pretty bad. I am usually calm, but I haven't been able to eat, and I've had trouble sleeping, so we are going to get it.

Please pray that everything is ok with our little one! (who, the u/s tech said, is probably a little girl)