Combined Test Results

[findinggold]

Hi, I’ve just had my results for the combined test and it’s come back as 1:230 for DS.
I really thought it would have come back lower as I’m only 26, my BMI is higher as it’s 36 but I really didn’t think it would have come back as 1:230.
So I’m naturally worried now of course and I know some people have much lower results than me but still, I really wasn’t expecting that result.
The cut off in my trust is 1:150 but I know some other trusts the cut off is 1:250 so I would be considered high risk in some places so I’m just really worried.
I can’t see on my letter where it tells me my PAPP score and I have two scores for HCG so I can’t tell if they’re low or high or as they should be?
Any one have any positive stories? Thanks.

Hi OP. We got results of 1 in 70 back. My wife was 33 so not particularly old, low BMI etc so we were worried and had the second blood test. Came back 1 in 100,000. We think it was a combination of them having her dates a week wrong (ivf baby so we knew for definite the date) and one of her hormones being quite low. The blood test was expensive but definitely helped reassure us (although the wait for stressful).

Wishing you all the best.

I forgot to mention too I had to have the blood test at 16 weeks because they couldn’t measure the back of the neck in my 12 week scan so I’m 18 weeks now, it’ll be too late to get any other testing would it?

@Shamoo ahh thank you for sharing your story, when did you have the combined test? Was it at your wife’s 12 week scan? I would love to have further testing but because I’m considered ‘low risk’ they won’t give me any other testing and would I be able to have it at 18 weeks private?
I’m just well and truly stressed out at the moment with this result, knowing that all my friends even those who are older and have higher BMI’s have had scores of 1:10,000 and even lower than that, I’m looking at the letter but not sure what is low and what is not and so on I can’t make sense of all that 😩

@findinggold

I forgot to mention too I had to have the blood test at 16 weeks because they couldn’t measure the back of the neck in my 12 week scan so I’m 18 weeks now, it’ll be too late to get any other testing would it?

Them not being able to measure the back of the neck could be why your results are higher as this measurement is a key part in working out your chances

@SnooperTrooper12345 yeah they couldn’t measure the back of her neck because she was on her stomach the whole time and no matter what I did she wouldn’t turn around onto her back to measure her neck, I just really thought I would get a lower chance that what I have and that I would be considered high risk in some places, I’m just really worried.

[quote findinggold]@SnooperTrooper12345 yeah they couldn’t measure the back of her neck because she was on her stomach the whole time and no matter what I did she wouldn’t turn around onto her back to measure her neck, I just really thought I would get a lower chance that what I have and that I would be considered high risk in some places, I’m just really worried.[/quote]
Did they not manage to get a measurement at all?
I really think this is why your results are so high as its such a key factor in it. And if you didn't get a measurement at all, I don't know what they put down.

I'd ask your midwife about it but I'm sure this is a big cause of it

@findinggold you can pay for a nipt test privately at any stage of pregnancy after 10 weeks.

I knew that due to my age (38), I’d be considered high risk, so rather than go through the possible unnecessary stress of the combined screening, we paid privately for a very detailed scan and SAFE nipt test at the birth company in London when I was 13+4.

Thankfully it came back as low risk 1:100,000.

Based on my age alone my risk would have been 1:159.

Was well worth the money imo.

Forgot to add, once my nt measurement of 2.1 was added, it reduced the risk to 1:539.

Then after the bloods it was reduced to the 1:100,000 for all trisomies.

@SnooperTrooper12345 no they couldn’t get a measurement at all because they couldn’t get the nasal bone in at the same time, so they didn’t measure her neck at all, the lady that was doing the scan just had a look and said it looks okay to me and that was it and to come back in 3 weeks to have blood tests and that’s all I’ve had, I’d love to pay private to have a harmony test but I don’t even know if there’s places in Wales that do it I can’t seem to find out about it.

There’s a company called ultrasound direct that offer the harmony test, they have clinics in several UK locations including in Wales.

@Moominmiss sorry only now seeing your messages! I’m so glad the test came back really low for you that’s amazing. I’ve just had another look and there’s a place that’s 40 minutes away from my home so I’ve booked in tomorrow, I’m just really really worried that I’m not going to get the news that I want... thank you for sharing too x

@findinggold - we actually went at 14 weeks as they couldn’t fit us in earlier (baby boom) and so they also couldn’t do the neck test and to be honest I think that’s why the Numbers came out the way they did. We were lucky that we had had a private scan at 11wks 5 days where they did measure it and we knew we it was normal range, but didn’t stop us being worried! This will definitely be a big factor I think.

Good luck @findinggold, your risk of 1:230 might sound high to you but when you look at it more closely the odds are actually well and truly in your favour.

It took 7 calendar days from the day I had my nipt test, to getting the phone all with the results, and honestly during that week I thought of nothing else. I imagined every bad scenario. Totally convinced myself that I’d receive bad news. I could barely speak on the phone when I took the call.

But even with all the stress and anxiety of waiting for the results it was still worth it. As a bonus we opted to find out the gender from the test too!

Sending you so much luck, I’m sure things will be fine for you and your baby xx

@Shamoo ahh that’s brilliant I’m really glad too that your results came back so low! I’m just worried because they must have gone off my hormones and they can’t be right maybe? I can’t make sense of the letter and the numbers of my hormones because I don’t know what’s meant to be what if they’re too low or too high? So I’ve booked in for tomorrow but I’ll be 18 weeks and 2 days when I have the NIPT test now!

@Moominmiss yeah I’m not considered high risk according to my trust because the cut off it 1:150 but when you look at it I’m only 80 off the cut off when all of my friends (well the 4 of them that are pregnant/had their babies) the highest one of them had was 1;10,000 and the lowest one had was 1:100,000 and comparing my 1:230 to those has worried me so so much, I’ve been looking too that BMI has nothing to do with wether baby has DS, so they must have got the score from my hormones and that just doesn’t look good really does it 😔 every scan I’ve had so far, well the 2 NHS ones I’ve had have said that everything looks good with baby even though they aren’t looking for abnormalities there wasn’t anything they were concerned about, I’ve had loads of blood tests and not once have they said anything about my hormones being too low or high and I had an early gender scan two weeks ago, she checked the head, brain, spine, heart, limbs and so on she said again she wasn’t looking for abnormalities but she said that it everything looked totally fine again but neck wasn’t measured and obviously nasal bone wasn’t looked at and that’s what they go off so I’m just not feeling hopeful at all at the moment.
Ahh I bet the waiting is awful, I don’t blame you I feel that’s how I’m going to be tomorrow now and then until I get my results too, I’m so glad everything is okay with your baby! Ahh it’s so lovely finding out the gender!
Thank you so much x

PP is correct in saying your results will be high if they didn't manage to get a reading for the back of the neck.
This makes up 50% of the results.
If they weren't able to get the results, you should've been offered a quadruple blood screening test. Was this offered? Should be between 14 and 20 weeks.

1 in 150 is the highest point of being high risk.
1 in 250 is not classed as high risk on the NHS as high as it sounds

@findinggold I presume if you had the blood test at 16 weeks you had the quadruple test rather than the screening test they do at 12 weeks. Are you hormone levels on your letter written as MoM? If so, this means the average is 1 so if you’re levels are >1 then higher than average and

@LadyBillyBon I had the combined test, that’s what they offered me, where they took blood at 16 weeks because they couldn’t measure her neck at the 12 week scan because she was on her stomach the whole time so I just had some bloods done and then I was done and had the letter to say today, I did see somewhere that some trusts have 1:250 as their high risk 😩
@KTF367 yeah some came back as MoM and then some came back as something else there were two lots, I don’t have the letter to hand now but I’ll have another look when I get in!

@KTF367 sorry I only answered half a question then, yeah I’m not sure what it’s called, the midwives kept saying I was in for a combined test at 16 weeks but I’m sure some called it the quad test too, I had the screening test too, well I was booked in for it of course but they couldn’t get her nasal bone and back in at the same time because she was upside down on her stomach the whole time I was there

@Moominmiss just had an email to say that I’ll have the results 7-10 days and if it’s high chance I’ll have a call and if it’s a low chance I’ll have an email.

@findinggold I have everything crossed for you!

I had a phone call with my low risk results, but they’d told me at the time of the test that they’d phone me regardless of low or high risk results.

Had they not told me that I’d have panicked at getting a phone call!!

Sorry I’m posting another comment, my results from the letter I had are:

AFP - MoM - 0.84
Inhibin-A - MoM - 2.80
hCG - MoM - 2.58
UE3UPD - MoM - 1.19

Can anyone make any light of this? I don’t get what they mean at all, I just really didn’t think I would have got 1:230, my friend who’s BMI is higher than mine couldn’t have her baby’s neck checked at her 12 week screening so she was the same and came back at 16 weeks for the quad test and then hers came back 1:10,000 so she didn’t have her baby’s neck measured either but still had a really really low score, I know I’m booked in for a NIPT test but I’m just so nervous and worried.

@findinggold

Sorry I’m posting another comment, my results from the letter I had are:

AFP - MoM - 0.84
Inhibin-A - MoM - 2.80
hCG - MoM - 2.58
UE3UPD - MoM - 1.19

Can anyone make any light of this? I don’t get what they mean at all, I just really didn’t think I would have got 1:230, my friend who’s BMI is higher than mine couldn’t have her baby’s neck checked at her 12 week screening so she was the same and came back at 16 weeks for the quad test and then hers came back 1:10,000 so she didn’t have her baby’s neck measured either but still had a really really low score, I know I’m booked in for a NIPT test but I’m just so nervous and worried.

I don't think it will be your bmi hun.. My bmi is extremely high (above 50) and I'm 28 and my result was the lowest possible. 1:100000 or whatever it is

Your AFP is normal range. This is a protein produced by babies liver. Normal range is 0.5 to 2.
So that is normal.

1.8 for inhibin-a is classed as normal so your results for this are possibly high. Although I'm not sure of the average range.

2.04-2.5 are normal for hcg so yours is every so slightly raised.

And ue3 normal is classed as 4. And I think lower than this is an indication of downsyndrome.

I'm not 100% on these but these are the rough figures as quoted as 'normal'

So it looks like its your actual hormone levels ect that have caused your result