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Original poster

High risk screening - Normal NT but high hCG, Low PAPP-A

453 replies

SoozyWoozy · 15/01/2012 21:06

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this board, so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place!

I'm 13w pregnant with my 4th baby (6th pregnancy, first two were ectopic & mc). My other pregnancies went without a hitch, other than the dreaded SPD.

With the other 3 I just had a Nuchal as screening, and all were very low risk. My hospital now does combined screening so this time I had bloods done as well. My scan was apparently OK and the Nuchal measurement was within normal range but my bloods made me high risk with a 1:78 chance of a baby with Downs / other Trisomies. My BhCG was double what it should be and my PAPP-A was half, apparently can be an indication of trisomies, but even with no chromosome problems this can lead to other problems in pregnancy such as IUGR, preeclampsia to mention just a couple!

I guess what I would like to know is this - has anyone been in a similar situation and come out the other side?! I have an amnio booked for 16w, but the waiting is driving me crazy and giving me too much time to think about the what ifs and if I am doing the right thing having the amnio at all!

Any words of wisdom would be gratefully received.

Suzy

OP posts:
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6
inkworks273 · 12/01/2023 10:17

I'm going through this right now and this thread has been really helpful to read.

I'm 36
NT 2.3
Hcg 2.54
Papp-a 0.51

Risk 1 in 23

As you can imagine I'm going out of my mind with worry. They said I should get the results of the nipt on Monday so feel like I'm in limbo at the moment.

Liveforholidays · 12/01/2023 18:38

I'm glad the thread has been helpful to you. It certainly helped me when I was in the same position 3 years ago. If you've done the nipt the only thing you can do is wait. Keep yourself busy doing mundane things, share your worries with family and friends and try not to plan too far in advance. The likelihood is that the nipt will come back OK for you. I then had to take asprin and have more regular scans for the low papp a. Pregnancy was not an enjoyable experience for me this time around and I couldn't wait for my son to be born. When he was it was like a weight being lifted. I'd spent most of the 9 months worrying either about tests or scans. Although he did measure small throughout pregnancy he was actually a good weight when born - 7lbs 3oz. God luck to you now and for the rest of your pregnancy. It's tough but you will get through it and it will be worth it!

inkworks273 · 16/01/2023 20:35

Just wanted to update to say my results came back low risk.

Gmama5 · 20/04/2023 20:36

Hi all,

Haven't done the nt scan yet but have gotten blood tests results back and converted to mom. It is not looking good - 0.4204 for papp-a and approx 3.8 for hcg. Am waiting for thr nipt test results. It's agonising as everyone I've seen similar to these results seems to be positive. Any good news stories?

ONCanMum · 20/04/2023 20:53

@Gmama5 Sorry you find yourself here. This thread is a great place a start looking for stories of you haven’t already had a read through. I’m waiting for NIPT results as well and must have gone through this thread 3 times already. ❤️

Gmama5 · 20/04/2023 21:04

I've gone through this thread so many times as well. I haven't found it comforting due to my age (37) and my results. How about you

ONCanMum · 20/04/2023 21:18

What was your screening risk if you don’t mind sharing? Mine is 1 in 3 (NT=2.4mm, 1.55 bhcg, 0.35 papp-a). Ultrasound was fine with nasal bone seen.

I come across both good and bad stories and try to focus on the good while also preparing for the worst. I know that doesn’t work for everyone but I take comfort in knowing that even in the worst case scenario, I will be able to move forward because others have. It’s been a week since I got my screening results and I feel like I’m already nearing the acceptance stage which sounds horrible because I haven’t gotten any results back yet.

ONCanMum · 20/04/2023 21:25

Forgot to mention that I’ll be 36 by the EDD.

Gmama5 · 20/04/2023 21:45

I haven't had the screen yet just got the bloods back. To be honest your bloods don't look that bad?

ONCanMum · 20/04/2023 22:04

I’ve put my numbers into some online calculators and it comes out as 1 in 20
instead of 1 in 3, which only offers a little more comfort. My NT measurement does have a 1.8 MoM which I think drives up the risk even though it’s well within my normal range. The genetics counselor said that the calc takes into account the measurement bias of the sonographer so that must be it.

Either way, I’m sure if they gave me 1 in 20 odds I’d be just as worried so it really doesn’t matter at this point.

Did you already get your bloods in for NIPT?

i3ubble · 21/04/2023 00:57

Hi, yep I have two good news stories with worse numbers than yours. I have already posted in the thread, but for both my pregnancies for my two children, I had about 0.3 PAPP-A and 4 hcg. I was given a risk of 1 in 7 for the first and 1 in 4 for the second, but the NIPT came back low risk for both and they both seem healthy at ages 4 and 1. I'll keep everything crossed for the same result for you. It's an awful wait, I do feel for you.

Brit86 · 21/04/2023 02:06

I have an earlier message here as my numbers were messed up too. Low papp a and high HCG. I was 35 at delivery and I have a perfectly healthy smart wonderful (almost) 2 year old. All the stress was for nothing.

High risk screening - Normal NT but high hCG, Low PAPP-A
ONCanMum · 21/04/2023 03:45

@Brit86 @i3ubble Thank you for your positive stories! ❤️❤️❤️

Johnson10 · 21/04/2023 09:03

Hi there,
my first son was 1 in 33 & my 2nd son was 1 in 135. Both classed as high risk.
I was 32 & 35 upon birth. I had the NIPT both times which came back as low risk.
It’s an awful time. The worry can be bearable.
My eldest is 3 in June & littlest is 4 months. They’re both currently playing on the floor, rolling about on a play mat, perfectly healthy! sending my best wishes to you!

Johnson10 · 21/04/2023 09:04

unbearable I meant !

Ladybug06 · 21/04/2023 14:07

I was given a 1 in 9 chance of downs and was absolutely terrified as my previous pregnancy was affected by Edwards syndrome (1 in 2 chance then).
NIPT test came back low chance & I now have a healthy & happy 6 month old baby.
I had just turned 44 when I gave birth.

Sending best wishes to anyone that finds themselves being told they are high risk as it's an awful time of stress and worry.

BabbleBee · 22/04/2023 18:12

I’m the OP - have namechanged a few times since I started this thread!

The DD I was pregnant with when I started this thread is 11 this year. I’ll never forget the worry and the agonising wait for an amniocentesis, but she’s worth it.

Alice4417 · 30/04/2023 10:05

Hi all

My results are as follows
Scan done at 12 weeks.
NT 1.4
HCG 2.17
PAPP-A 0.49
I'm 25 so risk was low at 1 in 940. I'm not going for extra tests as I can't deal with further stress and I'll love baby regardless.
For a long time I thought oh the high hcg is down to the fact I'm having a girl( I've read that girls seem to have higher hcg)
However I did a gender blood test with sneak peak yesterday and it says boy so I'm now worrying there's another reason for it being high! Although saying all this I have since read the reviews of sneak peak and loads I mean loads have got incorrect results ! So not trusting the result. Has anyone who had high hcg and low PAPP-A gone on to have a boy ? 🙏🏻 Thanks for reading x

Alice4417 · 30/04/2023 11:20

@Johnson10 what were your boys hcg and Papp-a ? I'm so happy you have your healthy baby boys x

Johnson10 · 30/04/2023 12:26

My papa-a was low at 0.42 with both. Can’t quite remember the HCG but it was high with both.
My first son had a higher NT measurement as well. 2nd son didn’t. But bloods were near enough identical.

Alice4417 · 30/04/2023 13:33

@i3ubble can I ask if your two children are girls,boys or one of each x

i3ubble · 30/04/2023 13:53

Alice4417 · 30/04/2023 13:33

@i3ubble can I ask if your two children are girls,boys or one of each x

Both girls lovely x

Alice4417 · 03/05/2023 11:20

I know this is super old but @Liveforholidays do you know what your Pappa and hcg was ? Xx

Diamond08 · 03/08/2023 18:37

Hi guys I’m new to this and I know this thread is old but I’m currently going out of my mind. I recently had the blood test along with the scan and I assumed everything was ok based on my scan and being told everything seemed great with the NT being 1.70 mm however I received a call saying by bloods confirmed I’m high risk. 1 in 55. With my PAAP A 0.44 MoM and my HCG 6.28.
Im now waiting for the next results and I’m currently worried and anxious as I wasn’t expecting this at all I’m trying to work out if fibroids could have caused an issue as I was told I have them and this pregnancy has been rough. I seem to live on Google at the moment going out my head has anyone had HCG levels this high and ended up being low risk.

nextweek · 03/08/2023 21:46

@Diamond08 I got a 1 in 10 result and everything was absolutely fine, now have a very happy and healthy 2 year old