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Original poster

Harmony prenatal test - anyone know about it

830 replies

RTchoke · 29/10/2012 05:41

today I am having a new kind of prenatal test called Harmony. It's non-invasive and seems to just be a new kind of blood test plus the regular nuchal scan but it's much more accurate than the traditional nuchal blood test. Apparently it's nearly as accurate as a CVS but without any risk.

I'm the only person I know who is having this test and nobody else seems to have heard of it let alone have been offered it. I just wondered if others have and knowledge of it and how accurate it is.

OP posts:
livingzuid · 02/12/2013 10:34

Sorry Antwerp is 680 euro I wish 60 euro!

weebigmamma · 02/12/2013 16:42

Hi all. I haven't read the whole of this thread but thought I'd pitch in. I am in Northern Ireland where they don't do Nuchal scans on NHS. I am 20 weeks and have. I am having the Harmony test, hopefully later this week. I know I will be worried sick waiting for the results but at the minute I'm just relieved that I don't have to go through an amnio. x

Babypod · 19/01/2014 21:03

Hi, have read this thread back to front after trawling the internet for info. Have had my Blood taken for Harmony after 1:47 chance of DS. Scan was good but its down to my crazy hormones being 5 times the normal.
Just wondered if anyone else is still using this thread and is in limbo or had very high Hcg levels?

CrispyFB · 20/01/2014 13:27

There's been quite a few people on this board recently who had high bHCG (I'm one of them at 5.43MoM) and Harmony has come back negative. High bHCG can be caused by bleeding within a few weeks of the test being taken. You may not even see blood if it was reabsorbed, for instance they think mine was caused by a small placental abruption they could see on the 20 week scan - yet I'd only bled until two weeks before Harmony so not that recently.

In my experience of lurking on forums like these over the years, those with a good nuchal fold usually do not actually have an issue if it's only in the bloodwork. I only ever saw one "bloodwork only" person when I waited it out for 20 weeks with DC3 a few years ago on a much higher traffic forum over on Babycentre.

Hope you get your results soon!

nyldn · 20/01/2014 13:47

hi babypod. I'm in limbo. got 1:38 odds of DS and was offered the equivalent of the Harmony test at UCLH. don't find out the results for 10 business days, and just had the blood taken thurs, so feel very stuck at the moment and unable to feel very happy about this pregnancy (my first). I hope your results come back clear. fx for you.

Babypod · 21/01/2014 00:14

Hi CrispyFB, thanks for your reply, good to hear your results were good. I did bleed right up until 3 weeks before the test as I had a 4cm blood clot (since has disappeared). I also have a huge placenta apparently : /

Nyldn, sorry to hear you are also waiting. Its all consuming isn't it. I know I shouldn't think about it but if I wake up in the night my mind starts ticking. Thank heavens for these forums. Got my fingers crossed for you xx

CrispyFB · 21/01/2014 11:05

That sounds like it could very well be related given the size of it - and perhaps the placenta size doesn't help either. It's always nice to have a "reason" behind the higher level - hopefully that is the reason!

mewkins · 21/01/2014 22:59

Hi Babypod, I had similar resilts to you- a good scan but 4x higher bhcg. Given 1:85 so did the Harmony test on 3rd jan. Got the results last week and came back as very low risk 1:10000 so very relieved. I really hope your resilts come back quickly and it's good news.

Babypod · 22/01/2014 15:08

Results are in and low risk 1:10,000!!!

Hi Mewkins, great to hear your results were good too. What a relief indeed. Maybe I'll sleep past 2am this evening. Do you feel exceptionally sick? I have and OB said it was the or one that makes you feel I'll that was 4 times the norm.

nyldn · 22/01/2014 19:46

Awww, that's wonderful babypod. so pleased for you!

nyldn · 22/01/2014 19:47

babypod, do you mind me asking how long you waited for your results?

CrispyFB · 22/01/2014 21:34

That's great news Babypod! You must feel so relieved Grin

Babypod · 23/01/2014 01:16

It was only 8 days so really fast. My stomach lurched when I saw the email from my OBs secretary, I wasn't expecting it back so soon.
Woohoo. Gt my fingers crossed fr your results being good too : )

SE5mumtobe · 24/01/2014 11:58

Hello Ladies, my local hospital is Kings College (London) and they were doing a trial for Harmony last year from what I can see. Does anyone know if they are offering the test at present either as part of a trial or routine? (As yet I havent got an answer from the hospital directly).
Thanks

lenalaura78 · 27/01/2014 11:25

Hi,
The test is available in Belgium. I'll do it on Feb 6th because im 35 and they saw choroid plexus cysts in my baby's brain. My doctor said it was nothing to worry about n and that other tests were good and that the triple test gave 1/10000 for trisomy but i'm still scared. I already lost a baby because he had spina bifida about 8 years ago and i still remember those moments, each second of it. I know my Ob won't do amnio unless he sees something wrong with the baby during the scans. I trust him because he's a professor and i know he knows what he's talking about , but i need to be sure , at least 98 % sure (as they say @harmony) that my girl is not suffering from trisomy 18. So I've decided to do the test in another hospital, which is the only one offering this option in my country. It costs 500 eur , but i just don't care , I wanna know.

Tranquilitybaby · 03/02/2014 22:37

Does the Harmony test include a nuchal scan or is that on too at the FMC?

I had a nuchal scan with my precious two pregnancies, but think if like to opt for the Harmony test this time as I'm 36.

Thanks

starchildmum · 04/02/2014 20:42

tranquilitybaby.

These are 2 separate test.

Here you can read about the procedure: Harmony at 10 weeks and scan at 12 weeks.

www.hscfw.co.uk/non-invasive-prenatal-test.php

I am going to see Dr Pandya at 1O weeks ( he is a foetal specialist and a professional partner of Prof Nicolaidis). I saw him during my first pregnancy for scans. He is excellent. (Lead Med Doc at UCLH).

Tranquilitybaby · 05/02/2014 23:07

Thanks starchildmum much appreciated. X

Tranquilitybaby · 05/02/2014 23:14

How does that centre compare to the Fetal Medicine centre starchildmum? Thanks x

MainlyGuesswork · 10/02/2014 13:15

Hi

Just thought I'd post about my experience at FMC last week in case anyone is interested. I managed to get in there at 10w+6d meaning that I just scraped into the 'deal' price of £400, rather than £580 if I'd gone any later.

I had a viability scan to date the pregnancy; this took ages as the baby was completely uncooperative and wouldn't lie in the right position. I had to do star jumps, cough, go for a wee as various attempts to get it to lie flat instead of showing us its spine. None of it worked and eventually had to do a vaginal scan to get a different perspective - for anyone who is worried about having that, don't be as they're totally fine.

Once we had the CRL measurement, I went back to the waiting room to be called for the bloods. They took 3 vials; 2 of which go over to the US for Harmony testing and one stays at FMC and they do the blood test part of the combined test (although apparently they don't give you the result of this as it would be too confusing alongside Harmony result).

We go back on 22nd for results and nuchal scan - I think they look for a few other bits on that scan too, i.e. not just the nuchal fluid measurement.

Overall it was a positive experience and everyone was very nice. I wouldn't go so far as to rave about it as some others here have done - I didn't find the ultrasound person or equipment radically better/different than those I've had with NHS.

I'll post again once we've been back for results; just trying not to focus on it too much in the mean time and hoping all is fine.

CrispyFB · 10/02/2014 16:18

MainlyGuesswork - for a simple viability scan you won't get anything above and beyond what the NHS offer as there's not really anything extra they can look at. But for a proper NT scan and anatomy scan, it's waaaay beyond. My NT scan was more in depth than my NHS anatomy scan.

They did give me the results of my NT screening when I asked (I also had Harmony) but they won't routinely.

Hope all goes well with your results!

Tranquilitybaby · 10/02/2014 20:36

Hope your results are fine mostlyguesswork. Please keep is updated. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Zara8 · 12/02/2014 15:56

Hi all

Jumping on this thread as it's so knowledgable about Harmony etc!

I am debating whether to get Harmony or Panorama testing. I live in the Republic of Ireland so nuchal fold scan etc (the standard blood + scan screening) is not available. This means I have to pay privately to get screening - €250 for normal nuchal fold screening, whereas Panorama is €550 and Harmony is €800.

Clinic has not given helpful guidance whether "normal" pregnancies with no indication of high risk factor should go straight to Harmony/Panorama. All they've said is that if I get an elevated risk result they will probably suggest I go for Harmony/Panorama next.

I am 29, second pregnancy, with DS in 2012 I got a very low risk score (1:15000 for Downs).

Any thoughts? If you had to pay anyway, would you go straight to Harmony/Panorama?

MainlyGuesswork · 18/02/2014 17:13

Quick update from me... and it's bad news.

Had a call last night to say I had come out as high risk from the Harmony test. Since it is something like 0.2% false positive rate, it is fairly conclusive.

We are going in tomorrow for the nuchal scan followed by CVS, with results of CVS back on Friday.

Completely devastated, and although I was anxious enough to go to the trouble/expense of having this test, I never thought I would be getting this news. However, really pleased that the test exists, as I'm going into the risk of the CVS with very good cause to.

I'll update with how it goes in case anyone else finds themselves in this position, which I sincerely hope you do not!

BryanBeattie · 19/02/2014 08:52

Harmony or Nifty are 99 pc accurate and work from 10 weeks