experience w/ triple screen test/amniocentesis?

a very dear friend of mine is pregnant....it took them a while to get pregnant, so they were ecstatic.....well, she tested elevated for spina bifida. then, they went for an ultrasound and they said the baby looked totally "normal"...but they also drew bloodwork.....well, evidently this bloodwork was a "triple screen" for spina bifida, downs, and trisomy ?? and then they called her to say that she tested elevated for all 3. They told her that she can have genetic counseling and/or an amniocentesis. Does anyone have any experience with this test?? Are there a lot of false positives? And are amniocentesis really that dangerous?? it looked like (from the quick research i did) that the statistics of miscarriage are much lower than they were years ago....anyone have any experience with an amniocentesis??

I feel kind of like an idiot, b/c I am a nurse, but I am not at all experienced in this area!

I feel like I always turn to twinstuff whenever I need information!! Thanks in advance to you all!!!

 

i had an amnio for the twins - which is actually two amnios - with the right dr, it is a very very safe procedure. For some people, even that 1/2% risk is too much (techically my risk was 1% since I had two). Honestly my peri did and she does it all the time and it was clear what was going on (they use an u/s to locate the baby and then insert the needle to withdraw the fluid. It hurt a little, but overall it was an easy procedure. It was more stressful going through the weekend and 'taking it easy.'

Good luck to your friend.

Oh, I had none of the bloodwork because it isn't accurate with twins.

 

It is my understanding that the rate of false positives for the triple screen is very high. It's a very good sign that ultrasound looked good, especially if they were looking for signs of a problem. I've had a couple of amnios and they are very safe and nearly painless (to my surprise). It's good to get one for peace of mind and also to know ahead of time if there is a problem so the doctors can be prepared at the time of delivery for any complications that may occur.

 

My doctor wouldnt even do the triple screen on me because I was 40, she said it would come out positive because of my age. We did do the amnio and it was painful to me. It did give me peace of mind to know everything was ok. We wanted to be prepared if we were going to face any issues.

 

i did the amnio and another test like it, a different one for each as one tested high for downs syndrome. I really wanted to know. I was stressed and it was painful and traumatic (I have a major needle phobia) but I would do it again. My doc did them all the time and I wasn't really worried about the safety. If you don't have to do it I wouldn't but I was older and got the high via the blood test. I guess it depends if you are going to do anything if it does come out that one of them has downs etc... if not i don't think there is any point. Good luck to your friend.

 

I tested positive with our singleton, Jon, so they did an amnio. It wasn't that bad to me and the previous poster is right that with the right dr, the chances of a miscarriage are extremely low. My dr did over 50 of them a month so it was definitely a regular thing for him so I would just make sure the dr is very experienced in doing amnios. I had 2 of them as we did another to test lung maturity at 36 wks so we could schedule our c-section and both went very well and were super fast. Good luck!

 

I have a friend who lost her baby at 28 weeks due to a complication with the amnio - so it does happen

 

When I was pregnant, I remember reading that it had a 60% false positive? I opted out of any testing and my doctor fully supported us.

 

We did the blood work because I am a need to know kind of gal. It came back normal with my singleton, elevated for Down's with the twins. And, because I am older, we had an amnio with my singleton and with the twins. We just wanted to be prepared with the right doctors for the baby/ies in case we needed them during delivery. It was not a really bad procedure, but not really pleasant, either. There are risks involved, but less than the risk of something being wrong with the baby over 35 (I think - going from memory - their dr. can tell them the real numbers) If she is over 35, and/or carrying multiples, there can be a lot of false postives. The risks for those increase around 35, and then again at 40, so the window of "normal" gets smaller. They would rather give you a false postive than a false negative (saying the baby is ok when it in fact has one of the screened for items)

Because they are going through the uterus to get the sample, there are a number of complications that can happen, and miscarriage is one of those complications. As is nicking the baby with the needle, and some others I can't remember right now. If it is a twin amnio with two sacs, once the first sample is drawn, a lot of times they inject a blue dye before they remove the needle so they can be sure they get one sample from each sac (since second one should be clear after dye in the first one). The dye comes out in a few hours (green urine - sorry TMI but it freaked me out a little).

Good luck to your friend - I hope it was a false positive.

ETA - we went to genetic counseling for the twins since that center was more used to doing twin amnios. If it's like ours, they go into you health history some to see if you have any contributing factors first, then do a level 2 ultrasound to look for physical markers, and then do the amnio. You can opt out of the amnio at any point in the process if you change your mind. The level 2 ultrasound was really cool to be able to see not just our babies, but actually inside them. It can pick up all kinds of details since it uses a slightly different resonance than a typical ultrasound. (sorry - engineer who uses ultrasound to inspect metal for defects - similar process and it's pretty cool...) You could see tons of details, and with the measurements and looking for markers, they were fairly certain both babies were ok. We did the amnio to be 100% sure, though. And it turns out they are. Sorry this turned into a book! ardon:

 

I've read that it can be false often with singleton's. Even more often with twins. I'm not sure what the percentages are, but it's more than it should be. I'm getting the results of mine this morning. I personally wouldn't have an amniocentesis until later in the pregnancy, but that's her choice.

 

I had genetic testing done. Normally the false positive rate is 10%, with twins is more like 20%. However, I don't really agree with the word "false positive". It basically gives you a chance, and if the chance is higher to what is normal for your age, it's elevated. I think I had a chance of 1:300 for Down's (33 years old). I tested 1:7200, so very very low. But you have to consider whether 1:200 or 1:100 is a fair chance even if it's elevated. Still 199 or 99 babies will not have any problems and will be born without Downs. However, some have a risk of 1:20, but still 19 babies will not have Downs. It's not a yes or no test, it shows a risk and therefore some people decide not to do it because they won't do anything with the outcome. It's a very personal decision. Amnios are pretty safe (the general chance for a m/c is much much higher). They say 1:200 and some docs do way better than that. We had one at our hospital who "scored" 1:600.

With T18, they couldn't give me a number (b/c of twins) but they said I did not have an elevated risk.

 

[SIZE=12pt]Is there any possibility she is further along than they think? I had the amnio to check for lung development at 36 wks 4 days, it put me in labor. Granted I was that far along but that was my experience. PLease keep us updated on her :hug99: to her[/SIZE]

 

Her actual lab results showed a 1:5 chance for Downs a 1:5 chance for Trisomy 18 and a 1:66 chance for neural tube defects. The level 2 ultrasound showed that the baby is developing normally. The doctor wants her to have an amnio done as soon as possible. He said he thought it was very strange that she tested so high for all three across the board. She is obviously very worried and not sure of what to do.