Hi Lesiley,
I have done both tests in London, the Harmony Test (at week 10+1) and the Nuchal Translucency Scan (at week 12+3).
NT examines many things, The nuchal translucency thickness, but also organs like bladder, stomach, skull/brain, abdomen, heart, tricuspid flow. Th scan results are usually combined (hence, the name combined test or bi-test, at least in UK) with a blood test looking for a specific hormone levels and B-HCG in maternal blood (I have done this blood test too at week 10), and the mother's age, to give a probability of Down Syndrome (and also T13 and T18). Probability is expressed in low risk, medium risk or high risk. In case results show high or medium risk, doctors will usually recommend further enquiries.
Harmony Test (samples are sent to Ariosa lab in California) analyses the fetal dna that circulates in maternal blood from week 10.
Both NT and Harmony (Or Nifty, or any other commercial fetal DNA test) are great because they are not invasive or risky for mother and child, and they are very accurate. However, although they are quite accurate, they are still screening tests, not diagnostic, as btc wrote. They only diagnostic tests for Down Syndrome (and for many other genetic disorders) which give a 100% sure result are Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (cvs), but unfortunately they have a 0.5 -1 % risk to provoke a miscarriage...
As btc, I have decided to do both harmony and TN to be on the safe side, but many people only do one or the other, if results are good.
I have to say that I have been advised by my doctor to have a NT scan anyway, regardless of the Harmony test, because with this early scan doctors can spot other abnormalities that are not necessarily linked to genetic disorders and that a dna test would not detect.
Unfortunately I cannot help regarding prices in HK.
@pollyrafiq, I was not aware of issues with T21! So, one more reason to be happy than I have done both tests
And, hey, I am now finally in HK and look forward to meeting you all! Any gathering planned for the near future?
I have done both tests in London, the Harmony Test (at week 10+1) and the Nuchal Translucency Scan (at week 12+3).
NT examines many things, The nuchal translucency thickness, but also organs like bladder, stomach, skull/brain, abdomen, heart, tricuspid flow. Th scan results are usually combined (hence, the name combined test or bi-test, at least in UK) with a blood test looking for a specific hormone levels and B-HCG in maternal blood (I have done this blood test too at week 10), and the mother's age, to give a probability of Down Syndrome (and also T13 and T18). Probability is expressed in low risk, medium risk or high risk. In case results show high or medium risk, doctors will usually recommend further enquiries.
Harmony Test (samples are sent to Ariosa lab in California) analyses the fetal dna that circulates in maternal blood from week 10.
Both NT and Harmony (Or Nifty, or any other commercial fetal DNA test) are great because they are not invasive or risky for mother and child, and they are very accurate. However, although they are quite accurate, they are still screening tests, not diagnostic, as btc wrote. They only diagnostic tests for Down Syndrome (and for many other genetic disorders) which give a 100% sure result are Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (cvs), but unfortunately they have a 0.5 -1 % risk to provoke a miscarriage...
As btc, I have decided to do both harmony and TN to be on the safe side, but many people only do one or the other, if results are good.
I have to say that I have been advised by my doctor to have a NT scan anyway, regardless of the Harmony test, because with this early scan doctors can spot other abnormalities that are not necessarily linked to genetic disorders and that a dna test would not detect.
Unfortunately I cannot help regarding prices in HK.
@pollyrafiq, I was not aware of issues with T21! So, one more reason to be happy than I have done both tests
And, hey, I am now finally in HK and look forward to meeting you all! Any gathering planned for the near future?
