What can nt check

Pregnant women need to do a lot of tests during the pregnancy. Pregnant women are advised to take the initiative to complete each examination, so that you can be fully prepared for your normal pregnancy, make your pregnancy process smoother, and ensure the birth of a healthy and smart baby. Nt test is done by many pregnant women. So what is the NT test for pregnant women?

1. What is NT

NT, or nuchal translucency, refers to the maximum thickness between the skin and subcutaneous soft tissue in the sagittal cross-section of the fetal cervical vertebrae. The NT test, also known as the nuchal translucency scanner, is a method that uses B-ultrasound to accurately measure the location of the thickest echo-free transparent layer of the subcutaneous tissue in the fetus's neck to assess whether the fetus is likely to have Down syndrome.

If the NT value of a pregnant woman is found to be outside the normal range during the NT test, further screening should be carried out, such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, to determine whether she has Down syndrome or other diseases.

2. NT test results

Babies with Down syndrome will have water retention in the subcutaneous tissue, so the skin on the back of the neck will be thicker. If the NT test shows that the thickness of the fetal neck skin exceeds the standard value, it may be related to abnormalities in the fetal chromosomal karyotype and other anatomical abnormalities. The thicker the NT, the greater the chance of fetal anatomical abnormalities and chromosomal abnormalities.

In addition to detecting the risk of chromosomal abnormalities, thickening of the fetal nuchal translucency is also related to congenital heart disease.

If the NT test result exceeds the index range, pregnant women are advised to conduct subsequent fetal abnormality screening to further determine the risk of fetal abnormalities so that countermeasures can be taken as soon as possible.

3. Necessity of NT inspection

In China, doctors generally recommend that key Down syndrome patients undergo a nuchal translucency scan, such as pregnant women over 35 years old, pregnant women who have previously given birth to a baby with Down syndrome, or pregnant women with a family history of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome. Although the nuchal translucency scanner cannot accurately determine whether the fetus is sick, it can help pregnant women decide whether further diagnostic tests are needed.

The nuchal translucency scanner is a way to assess whether the fetus is likely to have Down syndrome and is a screening method. NT tests are different from confirmatory tests such as chorionic villus aspiration biopsy or amniocentesis. They can provide a clear diagnosis, but NT tests can only indicate risks.

The accuracy of the nuchal translucency examination is determined by many factors, including the level of the ultrasound doctor and the accuracy of the scanner used, so the examination results cannot be guaranteed to be 100% accurate.

The NT test can only provide a reference for whether further prenatal examinations are needed. It cannot be used to determine whether the fetus has any abnormalities based on the ultrasound screening results. To determine whether the fetus has chromosomal abnormalities, hCG sampling or amniocentesis is still required for further sex chromosome analysis.

The article explains in detail what NT examination is, the effectiveness of NT examination and the necessity of NT examination. If you are a pregnant mother who hopes to give birth to a healthy and smart baby, then you'd better do an NT test at the appropriate time of pregnancy, which can immediately rule out the possibility that the baby is a heterozygous baby and can help you give birth to a normal baby.