Can they tell if your baby has down syndrome from the 20 weeks ultrasound? or does it have to be a blood test?

Question

Can they tell if your baby has down syndrome from the 20 weeks ultrasound? or does it have to be a blood test?

Answer 1

they should be able to tell at that point, that's what the anomaly scan is for, if there was something wrong they would do an amniocentesis and bloods to make sure what they saw is correct. it's important not to worry though. hope all goes well.x

Answer 2

It would depend on what kind of screening test they did.  There is a thing they do to check if there is excess fluid when they do the ultrasound but depending on the doctor's requests that might not have been checked.  If you are worried about it ask your doctor about what tests were ordered and maybe even request one if it wasn't done.

Answer 3

Hi i think it depends on the hospital but most hospitals say they can only do the test via scan between 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy  after this date they can not get an accurate reading so you would be offered blood testing at 16 weeks into pregnancy to test all other abnormalities or concerns are then checked at your 20 week scan

Answer 4

What screening tests are available?

There are many different screening tests available. Some tests are carried out in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and some later on, up until week 20 of pregnancy.

There are ultrasound tests, blood tests and a combination of the two. Remember that these are screening tests. They can't tell you for certain that your baby has or has not got Down's syndrome. They just tell you how high your risk is.

A cut-off point of 1 in 250 is usually used. If your risk is less than that, you will be described as 'screen negative' which means that you are extremely unlikely to be carrying a baby with Down's (but it's not impossible). The tests will detect many pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome, but they will also identify some pregnancies as being at risk of Down's syndrome when, in fact, they are not -- these are known as 'false-positives'.

When you read about the screening tests listed below, remember that there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get all of them, or even any of them, at your local hospital. You may have to look for what you want outside your area.

Answer 5

They cannot tell if the baby has down syndrome from an ultrasound.  You would have a blood test done called an AFP, which would indicate whether or not the baby has down syndrome and that it would be confirmed with an amnio.

Answer 6

You can't tell from an ultrasound. They will ask you if you want to test for down syndrome. If you do they can test by taking your blood. The test isn't 100% guarantee but they say it can usually tell.

Answer 7

no....they can look for soft markers in a level 2 ultra-sound but that is not 100% either.  you can only know if your baby has down syndrome if you would take an amniocentesis or a CVS  because these will look at the actual chromosomes of the baby. blood test are pointless, they are only designed to tell you your risks and even then they are off 85% of the time.

Answer 8

Neither are 100% accurate. A blood test just gives you odds. An ultrasound can look at typical physical "markers" that might indicate DS but not always. Your doctor can send both results out to a company that can combine them to get a better picture, but if you want a 100% accurate test result, only an amniocentesis or similar test called a CVS will tell you for sure.