Patient's question:
I am 16 weeks and 3 days pregnant. In the prenatal screening report for Down syndrome from the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, the hCG result shows a MOM value of 2.60, which is greater than 2.5. What does this mean? Can someone tell me clearly? Thank you!Doctor's answer:
Analysis of the condition: The higher the level of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the higher the risk of the fetus developing Down syndrome. The normal value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) should be greater than 2.5 MoM, and the lower the test result, the higher the risk of the fetus developing Down syndrome.Recommendations: This needs to be inferred based on the two indicators of AFP and hCG. Moreover, this test is only a probabilistic detection. The Down syndrome screening test can only help determine the likelihood of the fetus having Down syndrome but cannot definitively confirm whether the fetus has Down syndrome. Pregnant women with a screening index exceeding the normal range should undergo amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. If the results of amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling are normal, then the possibility of Down syndrome can be completely ruled out.