Anyone have a bad Quad Screen?

[Liann]

My results just came back from my Quad screen telling me that I have an elevated risk for Trisomy 18. They scheduled me with a specialist and I have to go get some detailed ultrasound on February 4th. Anyone ever gone through this? I know in my head that most of the time the baby is perfectly fine, but I'm still kind of freaking out over here. I have to wait 4 weeks now to find out anything.

[Susank41]

HI Amber
Yes I did! Its very common to get false postives. I had the detailed sonogram and no markers were found so I did not have the amnio. Kara is perfect! Don't worry yourself. I know soooooooo many women who have gone through this. I even think Melanie did also. I had to wait 4 weeks also after getting the bloodwork back before the sonogram. So many things go through your head. Hang in there.

[Liann]

Thanks Susan! They were just freaking me out on the phone, especially when they told me I was in the 1 in 72 chance group. I've heard of a lot of people having false positives which is why I decided NOT to have the Quad Screen. I even told them at my first appointment I didn't want it. But at my second appointment my doctor gave me paperwork for blood work and said it was to check for "neural defects". She said NOTHING about it actually being the quad screen, so I was totally caught off guard with this. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for the ultrasound.

[Susank41]

I know its easier said than done..but try hard not to worry and enjoy your pregnancy. After 2 m/c I was so worrid I really didnt enjoy when I was pregnant with Kara. This is a very specail time, so make the most of it! Im sure all will be fine!

[chefkate]

Oh geez! I'm so sorry and I know nothing we say will truly alleviate your worry, but here goes....

My best friend went thru this. Test after test showed bad news. She was at a 90-some percent chance her baby would have Downs. Poor girl was in tears for weeks, Finally did the amnio and baby was perfectly healthy. And at 6 years old, still is!

Hang in there - the stress will do you and Baby no good. Easier said than done I know.

[melanalyus]

Amber,

I had a fasle positve with DS #2, it showed an increased chance for Down's Syndrome. We had genetic counseling & a Level 2 u/s. Ther were no signs on u/s & genetics counseling showed nothing significant. The only way to know for SURE was to have an amniocentesis.....which we declined.

*sigh* I was so sick over the whole thing, and so much of my pregnancy joy was robbed b/c I worried so much for my little boy.

Well, he is PERFECT. For the rest of my pregnancies I denied the test...as well as any other test that had such a high percentage of false positives.

I'm sure yours is a false positive as well. Hang in there & keep us posted.

[mindy999]

Amber,

My story is a little different from yours but I thought I'd post anyway since I know a little of what you are going through.

My triple screen (I guess they didn't do quad screens 11 years ago) was fine but when we did the ultrasound, my son had choroid plexus cysts. These were fluid filled cysts that in and of themselves were not dangerous but there was some study that showed that babies that had the cysts at the 21 week ultrasound had a much higher chance of having Trisomy 18.

We did the high res ultrasound followup and he had no other markers for the disease.

Then we consulted with a neo-natal genetic specialist so that we could really understand the numbers behind the Trisomy 18 risk as well as the risk of harming a healthy baby with an amnio. We opted to skip the amnio because it seemed a much greater chance of hurting the baby with the amnio then that he had Trisomy 18. I'm not saying that getting amnios are bad in all cases, we just weighed both sides and chose not to. In your case, it might make better sense to go ahead and get the amnio and the peace of mind that comes with it. You should ask to have someone sit with you and explain all the risks on both sides.

My son was born perfectly healthy with no genetic defects. Something that my brother-in-law told me at the time (he's a pediatrician) is that with all these modern tests they do with pregnancies and percentages telling us the chance the baby has this defect or that, we are exposed to many more false positives and worries over nothing than ever before.

On the flip side, I have friends who had a negative triple screen and ultrasound and the baby was born with Downs. So, these tests can be unreliable in both directions (false positives and false negatives)

-- Mindy

[Liann]

Thank you so much for your responses ladies! And for sharing your own stories. It does make me feel a lot better. It's funny how you can KNOW that your chances of something are very slight and that most like nothing is wrong and still worry about it anyways. I'm feeling a lot better now though. I'll let you know how the u/s goes in a few weeks.

[Stephanie0523]

Originally Posted by mindy999

Amber,
My triple screen (I guess they didn't do quad screens 11 years ago) was fine but when we did the ultrasound, my son had choroid plexus cysts. These were fluid filled cysts that in and of themselves were not dangerous but there was some study that showed that babies that had the cysts at the 21 week ultrasound had a much higher chance of having Trisomy 18.

Charlie (my 15-month-old) also had a choroid plexus cyst, which totally freaked us out... but no other markers. He is a happy healthy little boy! I'm so sorry that you're having this added stress, Liann, as a first-time mommy. Hopefully your next u/s will relieve your stress! I'll say a little prayer for your little one!! ((Hugs))