Patient's question:
I am 16 weeks pregnant and will need to do the Down syndrome screening in a while. Do you need a color ultrasound for the Down syndrome screening?Doctor's answer:
The Down syndrome screening is a detailed examination performed on pregnant women during pregnancy, mainly involving blood tests, not ultrasound. The main purpose is to screen for the risk of the fetus developing Down syndrome. It also tests fasting blood glucose and blood glucose one and two hours after oral glucose tolerance test to screen for diabetes.Down syndrome screening primarily involves examining the levels of AFP, βHCG, and estriol in the blood. If the calculated risk is lower than 1/270, it is advisable to focus on early pregnancy. If the risk is higher than 1/270, further tests such as amniocentesis or non-invasive DNA testing may be required.