Combined test results at Queen Charlotte's hospital

[torcat]

Hello,

I am new on here so am probably going to get this wrong but anyway.....I am having my combined test on Monday at Queen Charlotte's and phoned them to ask about when I would get the results and they weren't 100% sure! They first said you just had to wait for a letter for a few weeks and then corrected it and said they phoned you after about a week if the news was bad and if not you would get a letter within 2 weeks. They specifically said that you must not phone before 3 weeks! I am confused, it seems that different hospitals do different things. It's also annoying since you pay £250 for the test and I have since found out that I could have it privately for less at the Fetal medicine clinic for less and they tell you on the same day.
If anyone has any experiences please can you share, I am 39 and this is my first so am rather nervous and inexperienced!
Thanks

Are you having it on the NHS or private? Why do you have to pay? IME they give you a much bigger time frame than it actually takes presumably to cover their arses. I had my results less than a week later and they were good. If in doubt, go to FMC, they are fab!

not really sure re the timeframe for combined result and why you are having to pay, but you will know the nuchal fold measurement at the time of the scan....this is the single biggest indicator of chromosomal abnormality so to be honest, if this is within normal range then there's usually nothing to worry about.

if it sets your mind at rest at all, i had a massive nuchal measurement of 5mm on my first pregnancy, and they expedited the tests very quickly and came back with the combined risk of 1 in 5 for Down's within 3 days. just do a bit of research and find out the normal measurement range (I cant remember whether its 2.5mm or 3mm where you might be looking at elevated risk) so that if you fall into that category you can push about getting combined results more quickly. its so unlikely that anything would be wrong, I was one of the unlucky ones, try not to worry too much.

in this pregnancy the nuchal measured 1.6mm and having been through the wait for the risk factor and then CVS on the previous pregnancy, I decided to opt out of the blood test in the knowledge that it would be very unlikely that there would be a problem with that nuchal measurement. at 33 weeks along everything looks normal (i have had had growth scans as well as normal 20 week measurements due to an underlying health condition).

good luck.

i had the combined test 4 weeks ago and was told they would phone me within 5 working days if the results indicated high risk, if everything was fine they would write to me within 10 working days.

I got a phone call 3 working days later indicating a high risk of 1:25 eventhough the nuchal measurements were 1.7. Im pleased to say my amnio showed everything was fine.

One bit of advise i would give would be too seriously consider if you want the test done, the chances are you will be considered as low risk, but if not the worry and heartache you will feel is unbelievable. Your detailed scan at 20 weeks would show up markers for down syndrome if there was a problem.

I wish i had never had the combined test done, but its a personal choice, just think carefully first.

I had my test at queen charlotte's and heard back after almost 3 weeks although my understanding is that they will contact you zoo er if you are high risk. I am slightly older than you and was v worried about the risks but cMe in at 1:37000 so don't think age means you will always be high risk. Good luck

Hi, do you mean the integrated test? If so, I had this a couple of weeks ago. The scan is done by a consultant, you pay 120 consultant fee and 120 for hospital charges. The two weeks sounds reasonable because you get a scan and the first blood test and a couple of weeks later get another blood test. The consultant was super and showed us everything and answered every question we could think of, then suggested some questions we'd not asked. He gave us his opinion when we had the scan and told us they'd phone if the results came back as high risk and send a letter if it came back as low risk. This test is are more accurate that the scan and single blood test, and most importantly for us there are fewer false positives.

Thank you! This site really is what it's cracked up to be, so helpful! It's hard when there is so much to take in and and all the different names for the tests and so on. In the booking appointment they just rush through everything and it was all a bit of a blur. Greenthumbs, you are right I mean the integrated test, is combined something else?? Do they then book you in for the other test when you are at the scan? I've not got another blood test booked in.
kh0609, I read your thread on here, once I had started I had to read to the end to see how it worked out for you and was so glad that it was all ok! Now i'm wondering about whether I should have the combined test at all? So much to think about.

torat, you have the combined test or the integrated test, not both. The integrated test seems to be the combined test plus an additional blood test, the scan is definitely the same, not sure about the blood tests.

It's all super easy, the consultant took the first blood along with the scan, gives you a bag and paperwork and lets you know when to turn up for the second. You go to the same place as you did for bloods at your booking in appointment, so just turn up and take a ticket.

Thanks, it's definitely the integrated one then.... and now i shall try and think of other things until Monday!

The more i look into this the more I wish I hadn't booked the integrated test. I don't know if anyone else found it the same, but I don't think I would have booked this had I known how long the test results take, because you need to have the second blood test. None of this was mentioned to us at the time and we really would rather know sooner than later, as we are not telling anyone about the pregnancy until we have the all clear on this. i'm also unhappy that you have to wait so long for the results after the tests have been done and wish we had booked a combined test at the Wolfson Institute, they seem to have really high detection rates because they look at the nasal bone too, and they can give you the result at the time. I don't want to be ungrateful about the NHS, but sometimes it feels like they treat you a bit like a number and assume that you know all these things :(. Sorry for the rant, just getting really anxious, to the point that I want to book another test at the Wolfson Institute independently and get the result next week!