Significant NT thickness at 10 week scan

[Lalarara10]

Trying not to panic but wanted to see if anyone here had had a similar experience (positive and negative outcomes welcome). We went for a private dating scan yesterday at 10+4 and the sonographer was very concerned about the significant nucchal translucency…she said she sometimes tries to disguise it but this was too clear to ignore and that she had to flag it. No measurement given as too early but to me it looks really thick especially when I compare it to pictures online. We’ve had our NIPT done off the back of it and are waiting but I’m going out of my mind!

it was a transvaginal ultrasound as my uterus is very tilted - I’ve read that baby needs to be in a neutral position to get an accurate image and it looks like it’s neck is slightly flexed, wondering if that could distort it?

has anyone else had a similar experience?

Hi, sorry you are experiencing this. It is good that you have had the NIPT- hopefully it won't take longer than 7-10 days to get your result.
Did everything else appear normal? It should specify the NT measurement in your notes. Did you see anyone else apart from the sonographer at the scan? Are you also due to have NHS maternity care?

Thank you for replying. I think everything else looked okay, she said it was too early to do the measurement but was clearly very concerned. We only saw the sonographer but I did message my midwife who said to let her know the results - it’s a tough waiting game!

It is very tough, I remember feeling so stressed out when I was waiting for my NIPT results. But yes, I forgot that you should be over 11 weeks pregnant before NT is measured. Do you have an NHS dating scan booked? They can do the NT measurement then, hopefully you will have had the NIPT results back by then too.

With my last baby I had an internal scan as they couldn’t see him clearly on the abdominal one, which was fine and his nuchal measurement was 2mm, but in this current pregnancy they struggled again (no one has ever said why but I suspect I may have a tilted uterus too) and I mentioned to the sonographer that I’d be happy for an internal scan if needed, and he did say that the internal one can make it hard to measure/check things so ideally they prefer abdominal at the dating scan. So it may be that it does distort it or just make it hard to measure. Did she give a number for the measurement? I have seen lots of stories on here where there has been a high nuchal measurement but all has been fine.

it is concerning that she says she usually tries to hide these things. People go for these private scans for reassurance and if sonographers are hiding potential issues for fear of giving bad news they aren’t being very reassuring! They have a duty to do their job properly and refer you back to nhs if they see anything.

I know all these places vary, in my first pregnancy I went to window to the womb and they said if they saw anything of concern they would refer me back to the nhs. I had a 7 week scan because of some bleeding, the baby was measuring a week behind but had a small heartbeat. They said I must just not be sure of my dates but at the time my cycles were like clockwork which I told them repeatedly. I had a miscarriage the following week and I do wonder if these places avoid giving out bad news because they want to sell keyring, mugs etc after the appointment and want it to be a positive experience. I’m sure lots of places are good but we’ve never paid for a private scan since.

I hope everything goes ok for you. Do you have an nhs dating scan coming up?