Cvs

[weasledee]

Hi, just come back from not the greatest 12 week scan. Found out baby has nuchal fold measurement of 6mm. I suspect they will suggest a cvs test....
anyone had one and how bad are they?
Just so nervous and confused right now!

Of you don't like the idea of a cvs there are non invasive blood tests like the Harmony test available. You have to pay unfortunately in most places but get the results within a week.

Considered this but wouldn't you end up having the CVS if you got a high risk with the harmony?

I had a cvs, wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Didn't feel it go into me but did feel it when it was inside. Had really strong period pains for a hour or so after.
Results came back in a couple of days and I rested for the two weeks after when there is a higher risk of miscarrage although the doctor said the risk of miscarrage is far greater if baby is already not well.
If you've got any questions feel free to ask.
Good luck.

Harmony then wait for Amnio if further testing required?

Harmony is great if you have a slightly elevated risk of problems, but with a 6mm nt I'd go straight for the CVS. Harmony only tests for four of the most common chromosomal anomalies, and you'd still need a CVS or amniotic to confirm a diagnosis if harmony did indicate any of these.

I've had a CVS. I found the procedure stressful, unsurprisingly, but not really painful. As I'm a bit of a wimp with needles I asked for a bit of local anaesthetic first to numb the area. I had a similar nt result and valued the speed, accuracy and range of conditions checked for by the CVS Vs harmony.

Best of luck OP.

Sorry to hear that. I had a CVS - as offbeat says the harmony only checks for the most common chromosomal disorders whereas with a CVS they can check for a much wider range of chromosome and genetic issues. (ask if they can they do full cga array test to check for widest range of issues). Procedure was a bit painful but not too bad, more of a quick ouch than anything. The wait for results is the worst bit. Most important thing is to have it done by someone who does them all the time - so eg a big regional hospital - as then the mc rate should be much lower than the average. The miscarriage risk also depends on where your placenta is, if it's at the front then risk is lower as that means they can get the placental cells without going near the foetus.

Thanks for the replies, can I ask why you all ended up having a CVS and what the outcome was?

I had one due to high risk for downs/edwards/patau from the 12 week scan and bloods. Harmony had only just been invented then and I hadn't heard of it. The outcome was all clear. As it happens when DD was born we were told she looked like she had dysmorphic features and so may have Downs or another chromosomal condition (outing myself here!) At that point I was so glad I'd had the CVS - and it turned out her features were just a combination of DH & me plus effect of a difficult birth.

I had a cvs due to the high NT (around 6.4 mm) and also because the 12 week scan showed fetal hydrops - pockets of fluid around the baby's organs. Hydrops can be caused by a number of things, but the prognosis is pretty poor. CVS confirmed Turner's Syndrome, which is one of the more benign chromosomal anomalies for girls/women who survive to birth, but which unfortunately has a high miscarriage/stillbirth rate because it often goes hand in hand with hydrops and heart disorders. I chose to terminate a couple of weeks after the diagnosis because there was no realistic chance of my baby surviving to birth. If hydrops had not been present, or had receded, I would have continued the pregnancy. In my case, the diagnosis from the cvs, in hand with information from the ultrasound, gave me a much clearer prognosis which aided decision making.

I hope you get better news.

Hi op. I've had two CVS tests. The first was fine, not painful, I didn't look at the needle and held my husbands hand tightly! Second time was more uncomfortable because my placenta was low down. I felt a bit weird after but nothing a sit down and a cup of tea didn't sort out. Go for the CVS, you'll have peace of mind and they are relatively low risk.

I also had one due to high risk of downs/Edwards/Patau and our baby had fluid in lungs at 12 week scan. Blood results combined with scan gave us a 1 in 5 risk.

Had cvs and everything came back fine with chromosomes and fluid had gone from lungs a couple of days later too.
Had 20 week scan a couple of weeks ago and he measured perfect and nothing wrong.
We're due middle of November.

Really appreciate the replies ladies, you're helping me more than you can imagine.....
This is my 3rd pregnancy and the sonographer yesterday was pretty poor tbh. No communication through the whole scan and all she said was "baby has a heartbeat but more fluid than I'd like, you'll need more tests, thanks"
I got off the bed in a state of shock and wasn't prepared so asked no questions like, how the baby looked generally etc.....
I'm scared of CVS as I'm bit of a wuss but I think it's the way to go...

Hi OP, sorry the sonographer didn't explain things better, as CVS is invasive with a risk attached I would perhaps try to speak to someone else first, perhaps you could go ahead with booking it and then get to speak to someone else before the procedure on the day? IME CVS is done by a consultant. Having said that I also think that CVS sounds like the way forward for you if NT was 6.

My story is that poor blood results put me at fairly high risk (1:20 for DS, something like 1:36 I think for Edwards/ Pataus), I definitely wanted to know for sure so opted for CVS which they were able to do the next day.

You will hear a lot of people say 'you get the results within 2 days' because for most this result, the preliminary result, amounts to the same thing as the full result which takes 2 weeks. Prelim tells you whether baby has any of the 3 main trisomies, full result is the full karyotype ie looking at all the chromosomes. I got the best day of my life with the prelim result which was clear, followed by the worst day 2 weeks later when they phoned to say they had found ring chromosomes. Baby found to have died a few days later. Unusual I suppose but important to understand the difference between the 2 results.

When I had mine I probed a bit about the 1% miscarriage risk and was told that in Kings College London which has a world leading fetal medicine unit the risk is actually less that that. And that the risk drops off sharply after a couple of days, although the official line is still I think that the risk continues for a couple of weeks.

Best of luck OP

Thanks for the replies, I have an appointment of Friday with the consultant so we'll see what she suggests then.....

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, eastegg, it's definitely worth explaining that there are two sets of results. I found it frustrating telling friends (and even husband!) that it wasn't necessary all OK just yet after the first results had come in.
OP, I had an unhelpful sonographer at our 12 week scan back in May, she made it sound like it was all over already. I know exactly what you mean about not having the questions ready, but not surprising when it's unexpected news. Our baby had an NT of 5.8 and the combined test came back at 1 in 12 for Downs. We didn't get to see a consultant for over a week, but opted to have a CVS there and then on her advice (even though NT had gone to normal levels by then). I didn't find the procedure painful, more uncomfortable but over quickly enough.
Since then, first set of CVS results were clear, full set was clear and fetal heart scan at 15 weeks didn't show any problems either. We had a 20 week scan last week and that was fine too.
Fingers crossed you'll end up in the same boat as us. xx

I had a high nt measurement (4.2) at my dating scan in April, and was fast tracked for a CVS. Unfortunately the fetal medicine consultant at UCH was unable to get a clear path to the placenta due to it's position, and my bowel loops being in the way, so we were faced with the prospect of having to wait until an amnio could be done at 16 weeks. As it was, the more detailed scan he did before attempting the test flagged up a number of issues (exomphalos, single artery cord, and smaller than expected foetus) which also pointed towards a serious problem.

We went back a week later for another attempt, because we could not face waiting another 3 weeks for an amnio, but the hb had stopped in the meantime. We've just had the results back from tests,
and they confirmed that our son had T13.

Like a pp, I was also told that the miscarriage risk with CVS is higher if there is a problem with the baby. Our combined risk for the main trisomies was 1:5 as my bloods were terrible, so a 1% mc risk was inconsequential to me at that point anyway.

Good luck, I hope things turn out better for you. Please contact ARC (Antenatal Results & Choices) if you need some support, they were really helpful.

Hi op. Just to give you some hope. I have twins and like you at my 12w scan we got told that twin 2 had an NT of 6.1mm. We were ushered into what I call the room of doom and given loads of boomph on our options. Then we were referred to fetal medicine. Long story short, had NIPT and a late amnio (for other reasons) and all clear. And my twins are 6 months now and there's nothing wrong with either of them. Sometimes it can just be one of those things. Feel free to PM if you have any questions x

So sorry to hear about your little boy Ancient xx

I had a CVS 2 months ago as the 12 week scan showed the baby to have NT measurement of 7.5 and also an exomphlos (it's insides were on the outside). The sonographer suggested (with lots of prompting) that it looked like T13 or T18.

The CVS wasn't that uncomfortable, it did twinge a bit when the needle went into the womb but it was manageable. I hadn't really thought about the practicalities of the procedure beforehand as I was so overwhelmed so just went along with it - and I'm usually terrified of needles. I was told the risk of miscarriage was 1in 1000 but that seemed irrelevant when we were facing the likely probability of such a serious out on anyway.

We had to wait 4 days for the result due to the hacking of the NHS system which was awful but it did tell us that our baby had Edwards Syndrome, T18, and we chose to end the pregnancy.

I'm so sorry that you are having to make these awful decisions, it is so unfair.

Thanks again for sharing your stories and replying, it really helps. I'm sorry to hear that so many of us have been through this at a time for us, when we would be sharing the exciting news with friends and family.....
Have my hospital appointment tomorrow to discuss what happens next, I will update when I know more...

Good luck for tomorrow op. Will be thinking of you. Do update if you can.

Good luck with your appointment today

I hope today goes ok. Sorry you're having to go through this.

Good luck weasledee, it's a very tough time, no matter what the eventual outcome. Thinking of you.

Had appointment and not good news, doctor said fluid high all over baby. CVS booked for next week but doctor said I could miscarry before then....
Thanks for the replies again ladies x

I'm so sorry it wasn't better news