Patient's question:
I am 23 years old and 15 weeks pregnant. I had the Down syndrome screening done two days ago. The results showed APF 27.61 g/ml MON value 0.74, HCG 69550 IU/L MON value 2.08, Down syndrome risk rate 1/505, 18 trisomy syndrome risk rate 1/23255, and neural tube defect risk 0.74. Is my baby normal? Could he/she have Down syndrome?Doctor's answer:
Analysis of the condition: Hello, low risk of Down syndrome indicates a low risk of developing this condition.Guidance: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was initially used for diagnosing open neural tube defects. Elevated AFP has a sensitivity of >98% for diagnosing anencephaly and >90% for diagnosing open spina bifida. Later, it was found that in cases of chromosomal aneuploidy, maternal serum AFP levels are low, at 0.75 of the normal multiple of the median (MoM), combined with age-related risk factors, which can identify 25% of Down syndrome cases. Free human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) subunit b is another important marker for prenatal screening of Down syndrome. When measuring AFP, specifically detecting free HCG subunit b can increase the detection rate of Down syndrome by 62%. In mid-pregnancy screening for Down syndrome, free estriol (uE3) can also increase the detection efficiency by approximately 5%.