Down syndrome screening critical high risk

A critical high risk result in Down syndrome screening indicates, to some extent, that there is a problem with the fetus. A critical high risk result in Down syndrome screening may be due to chromosomal abnormalities. There are many factors that determine whether a Down syndrome screening result is critically high, such as environmental, genetic factors, etc. If a pregnant woman is detected to be at borderline high risk for Down syndrome, she should not panic too much, because further confirmation is needed to determine whether there is a problem with the fetus, such as through amniocentesis.

Fetuses with Down syndrome are not exclusive to older pregnant women.

Although older pregnant women over 35 years old are closely related to Down syndrome, the older the age, the greater the chance of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. However, young women may also give birth to children with Down syndrome, and only 20% of Down syndrome occurs in older pregnant women, while the other 80% of Down syndrome fetuses are born to young pregnant women under 35 years old. Therefore, if only older pregnant women are examined, it will not be a good way to prevent Down syndrome.

If all pregnant women were offered amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.

Not only is the cost relatively high, it also increases the chance of miscarriage, so it is not necessary for all women to undergo amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. Currently, the best way to prevent Down syndrome is that all young pregnant women undergo Down syndrome screening tests, and those who are shown to be at high risk undergo amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. Through amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, it can be determined whether the fetal chromosomes are normal and whether the fetus has Down syndrome.

Young pregnant women under the age of 34 should undergo Down syndrome screening.

The test can be performed between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, preferably between 16 and 18 weeks. Pregnant women who are over 34 years old, women with Down syndrome in their family, and women who have given birth to children with Down syndrome are already at high risk, so they do not need to undergo Down syndrome screening and should go directly to amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.