Downs Syndrome result

[Silver45]

I am having a serious panic and hope someone can help me....

I got my DS screening results back this week and my chance is 1:600. My PAPP-a levels are extremely low at 0.17 Corr MoM.

Can someone explain what this all means and give any advice?

Also my bHCG level seems low too at 0.60 Corr MoM

Thank you x

Don't focus on the complex bits, really, don't. They mean very little out of context, that's why it is specialists who put it all together!

The important number is your risk factor of 1 in 600. That means that out of 600 babies, 599 will be unaffected and just 1 will be affected by downs syndrome or other trisomy.
It is considered low risk with high risk kicking in around 1 in 200/250 so you are a long way off that.

If you are stressed then give your mw a ring for a chat, she will be happy to go through your concerns.

I know it's hard but try not to worry. 1/600 isn't that bad and the low blood hormone levels don't mean much in themselves, they could indicate many other things.
My result was 1/60 and my papp-a low. My hospital offered me a CVS test and the harmony test. I took the harmony and got a good result so decided not to do the CVS. However, I would have done if harmony wasn't available.
Did they discuss any further testing options with you?

Its a 0.2% risk. Its tiny.

When I was having babies only risks of over 1 in 250 was beemed worthy of possible further investigation.

Thank you for your quick and kind replies. I've been told that I will be having growth scans from 28 weeks. I have had the harmony test suggested to me so will book that, despite the horrifying cost. I know that 1:600 isn't dire but all my friends seem to keep getting 1:500,000, 1:100,000, 1:20,000....!!!

I had a 1 in 4 result. When I first had the result, a friend reminded me that that was a 75% chance that he would not have downs. Looking at the results tat way seemed less scary !

How old are you, if I might ask? I had my last baby at 39 and my risk went up from one in many thousands with the previous two, to one in three hundred.

It was a bit of a surprise and it's classed as borderline high risk in some authorities but not in ours, so I wasn't offered further testing and tbh would have had the baby in any case. But it was a bit difficult to handle given the contrasting ratios from the others.

Ds is OK afaik, he's two now, and I think the numbers were to do with my age as much as anything (I missed the nuchal screening as my 12 week turned out to be 14+3, and they couldn't do it after 14+0) so I was given the quad test instead.

Good luck and I hope you get some peace of mind soon xx

Hi silver I had a 1 in 157 result based only on the low papp-a level. I had the harmony test which came back very low risk. Low papp-a level can be related to small growth rate, but I'm now 36 weeks and baby is a big one- she was over 5 pounds at 32 weeks!!

Your odds are really good. Though I know its hard not to worry when you're told anything other than 'normal' results.

Psipsina I am 31 years old so don't think my age is a factor. I had a 1:50,000 risk with my son 2 years ago.
Does anyone know what causes low papp-a?

Sorry not to have reassured you on that front - I've found a thread about low papp-a for you though which is quite reassuring.

here

Thank you for all your kind replies so far x

That's a good result ! I got a 1 in 20 result.
So you've really not much to worry about.