Is there a problem with a low risk in Down syndrome screening?

During pregnancy, women need to undergo many prenatal checkups, which will help pregnant women better understand their physical health and the development of the fetus. Pregnant women must take these examinations seriously and do a good job in each examination. These examinations are to predict the probability of the fetus suffering from Down syndrome. Under normal circumstances, this examination will have two results, one is low risk and the other is high risk.

What does low risk mean?

The development of science and technology has brought not only economic development but also the development of medical technology. Today's medical technology can not only provide late-stage disease treatment, but also early-stage examination and diagnosis.

As the name suggests, Down syndrome screening is a prenatal examination and screening of fetuses with Down syndrome. Experts say that by drawing blood from pregnant women for testing, important indicators of fetal trisomy 21 can be screened.

There are two types of Down syndrome screening results:

One is low risk; the other is high risk. This examination is only a matter of probability and cannot determine whether there are congenital malformations. The screening results can be used to determine whether the fetus has congenital intellectual defects and the risk of the fetus developing Down syndrome. Low risk generally does not require further examination, indicating that there is basically no problem. If the screening result is high risk, further confirmatory examination is required - amniocentesis.

What to do if the Down syndrome screening result is low risk:

Don’t take it lightly

A low risk result indicates that the risk of the fetus being a baby with Down syndrome is low. However, the results of Down syndrome screening are related to the menstrual cycle, weight, height, gestational age, and fetal age. Errors in any of these factors (such as inaccurate calculation of the menstrual cycle, miscalculation of fetal age, etc.) may cause inaccurate results.

Therefore, this situation needs to be clarified by blood sampling (venous blood or heel blood) to rule out hereditary cretinism, and amniocentesis can be performed if necessary to further confirm the health of the fetus. However, amniocentesis has certain risks and may cause miscarriage. Expectant parents with low-risk results can choose not to do it.

Keep checking during pregnancy

Even if the result is low risk, you should still insist on other pregnancy checkups to accurately understand the development of the fetus.

The best time for Down syndrome screening

Down syndrome screening is best performed between 14 and 18 weeks of pregnancy.

It only requires drawing 2 ml of venous blood from the pregnant woman after fasting for 12 hours, and the pregnant woman will know the result 2-3 weeks after the blood draw.