Anyone else receive low PAPP-A results at nuchal scan?

[jessig]

Hi all

I had my 12 week nuchal scan on Friday and the scan itself was perfect, however my PAPP-a results were very low (0.19), putting my baby's risk of down's syndrome at 1:29.

I'm booked in for a CVS on Monday and am extremely worried about the outcome.

Has anyone else had similar results? What happened in your case? I would love to talk to someone in a similar position.

I am 33, this is my first pregnancy after a miscarriage earlier this year.

Thanks
Jess

[melbel]

Our PAPP-A was 0.28 and our combined risk came back at 1:2 so as high as you can get, basically we had a fifty fifty chance of down syndrome. Our CVS was normal and we have a beautiful perfectly healthy baby boy sleeping in the pram next to me to show for it.

Low PAPP-A can also be an indicator of possible heart issues so you will need to have a detailed morphology scan at 20 weeks or so to rule this out...ours was clear. It can also be an indicator that the placenta may no thave attached as well as it should have and this could mean you have a risk of possible IUGR or small for dates baby so you will probably need to have a few growth scans later on to keep an eye on this. there is a small body of research that seems to indicate that taking low dose aspirin and clexane injections can improve blood flow to the placenta and improve baby's gorwth rate...we did this as a preventative measure after consultation with our specialist obstetrician I gave birth to a 4.4kg bouncing baby!

I guess our baby is proof that all of things that could go wrong are just possibilities and things to look out for......they may never happen....in our case we were very very lucky and very blessed that nothing happened.

good luck.....I know how scary that wait for the CVS and then the results is...I will be thinking of you and praying for a good result.....just try and think this way you may have a 1 in 29 chance of a down syndrome baby but you have a 28 in 29 chance that bubba will be perfectly normal......

[jessig]

thank you melbel, that makes me feel a lot more positive. it must have been awfully scary for you too!

thanks for all the information - it's very reassuring to hear how well your pregnancy turned out.

we have our fingers and toes crossed that we will hear good news this thursday.

jess

[Razzberry]

I didn't even have the blood test as my baby had a high nuchal fluid reading at 9 weeks. We had the cvs testing at 11.5weeks and it came back clear and my daughter is asleep in the next room happy and healthy.

I understand just how stressful this time can be, make sure you get plenty of rest after the procedure, as you can be quite crampy and sore. Huge hugs xox

[rene1]

HI,

yes I had a low papp A result (same as yours actually) at my 1st trimester screen and a Downs risk of 1 in 48. I had a CVS done last week and the fish test came back normal. I am awaiting a follow-up appointment with the doctors next week.

Ive done a bit of reading up on low Papp A levels and to be honest it just scared me. I have two healthy boys already, with no hassle pregnancies.

good luck with the next step. il be interested to see how you go

R

[jessig]

Hi

I got my FISH results today and, thank goodness, they are clear. Just need to wait for the full results in two weeks. What a relief!!

Rene1, let me know how you go - i will have to organise my follow-up appt too.

It is scary reading about PAPP-A, i feel like there could be more complications to come, but at least we are through this first hurdle!

Good luck
Jess

[rene1]

Great news about your FISH results. I know what yo mean about being more complications to come - at this stage im taking one step at a time.....and after doing some reading, have vowed not to read up anymore on it! sometimes it can only cause ALOT of unneccessary worry.

I didnt even have this test with my fisrt son.

Good luck & let me know how you go - its nice to know your not the only one!

Renee

[Julie B]

Hi
This is my 1st time using a site like this and need help

My daughter had IVF and was lucky enough to get pregnant 1st time with one baby, she is now 13 weeks + 2days and just had her scan for the nuchal fluid we were told her reading is 2.6 and that this was above average for her age (30) and the age of the baby , she has had a blood test but we are all so worried waiting for the results.
I feel so useless as I know nothing about the test and what is normal as it was not around when I had my children, her partner is away as he is in the army.
The lady who did the scan was not much help said not to worry to much and if any thing wrong the hospital will ring if we hear nothing by end of Tuesday to assume all ok . easy for her to say , she did say think about what you want to do if news was bad .
My daughter is now crying all the time and not sleeping
Any advise out there

worried nan to be
Julie B

[Bloom]

Hi Julie and welcome. Sorry to hear about your daughters situation. I hope everything turns out okay - I'd suggest she call her Obsetitrican or Fertility Specialist if she is at all worried. They would probably talk to her on the phone and reassure her.

But about low Papp A - yup we had it will a pretty normal nuchal fold. 20 week scan shown no visible defects except for only two out of the three cords from the placenta to the baby were present. So we prepared for an early or small baby and had follow up scans. It was all a bit worrying at first, but I trusted God that everything is in his control. And sure enough, 12 days OVERdue our DS was born 8 pounds and with ALL 3 cords present! Midwife said the sonographer must have made a mistake. So in short, we had low PAPP A and no problems whatsoever.

[Twin Sister]

I have not had this but a friend of mine who is 30 weeks PG got this same result. She has not had the baby yet but all of her further testing has so far indicated the baby is healthy and the Dr is not concerned. Fingers crossed all is well with your little one as well.

[Julie B]

Hi Julie and welcome. Sorry to hear about your daughters situation. I hope everything turns out okay - I'd suggest she call her Obsetitrican or Fertility Specialist if she is at all worried. They would probably talk to her on the phone and reassure her.

But about low Papp A - yup we had it will a pretty normal nuchal fold. 20 week scan shown no visible defects except for only two out of the three cords from the placenta to the baby were present. So we prepared for an early or small baby and had follow up scans. It was all a bit worrying at first, but I trusted God that everything is in his control. And sure enough, 12 days OVERdue our DS was born 8 pounds and with ALL 3 cords present! Midwife said the sonographer must have made a mistake. So in short, we had low PAPP A and no problems whatsoever.

[Julie B]

Thank you both, its the waiting that is making us so worried .
Her midwife is no help we are going to contact fertility clinic , just cant seem to find out what should be a normal reading for her age, we did not know to ask about nasal bone and the sonograher did not mention it , the baby is right size is there any other signs .
Its so fightening to think you could make the wrong decision , when so many people have had bad readings and gone on to have healthy babies so worried

Julie B

[jessig]

Hi guys - has anyone received any further results?

Rene did you speak to you doctor after the cvs?

I've been told i'll need to have lots of follow-up scans to monitor the progress of the baby.

I've decided to go with an obstetrician because i've been told i'm high risk and more at risk of stillbirth, IUGR, high blood pressure etc.

It's pretty nervewracking, and I have found that i'm distancing myself from the pregnancy a bit, and putting off any further preparations until the next scan in three weeks. But I'm still trying to enjoy the pregnancy.

I hope you are all staying strong and I'm wishing you the best of luck with your results and scans.

Jess

[jessig]

Julie,

Your daughter's nuchal fluid doesn't sound above average based on what i've been reading. I thought anything above 3.0 was more of a worry. Have you managed to find any statistics?

Have you received the blood test results?

Jess

[Julie B]

Hi Jess

had blood results back today not good 1 in 40 chance of baby being d/s going for amniocentesis test tomorrow,she is devastated after going through IVF and get to 13 weeks, she had private scans at 9, and 12 weeks and nothing showed up only on the nuchal scan , she has resigned her self to bad news so fingers crossed .Life does not seem fair at moment.

Love Julie B

[Twin Sister]

1/40 isn't as bad as it initially sounds. That's only a 2.5% chance of DS and a 97.5% chance of everything being fine. I was actually talking to another friend of mine who had a baby last summer. She too had a low Papp-a and a high chance of DS but amnio revealed the baby was just fine and they now have a healthy and happy one year old girl. Hang in there,