CVS Screening
Has anyone had this test and what are the risks? I am torn between having it done and knowing the outcome. I read that it could cause limb deformities in the fetus. My doctor recommends an amnio instead of the CVS. But I can have the CVS at 11 weeks verses the Amnio at 16 weeks. Any help with this would be great. My son has DMD and I am not a carrier and no family history!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Rownd on
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I am no help really, but I guess it would be up to your feelings about terminating the pregnancy or not and if 16 weeks is your cut off date for termination. Either way no one can tell you what to do. My husband and I decided to do IVF with PGD because we would not terminate the pregnancy. I also am not a carrier and have no family history of DMD. I wish I could help.
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Permalink Reply by Sharyn Thompson on
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hey wendy, I'm lying in bed typing this on my iPhone, but I can seriously say I've had CVS twice and it was pretty non-eventful really. In fact, I went by myself second time and it was a breeze. I know a few other mums on here have had it done, like Tamara and Ofelia, but if they don't reply beforehand then I'll send a more detailed message tomorrow. For the record, I'd go a cvs over amnio any day - by 16 weeks you can feel baby move and are more attached to it. Also, limb deformities occur when done too early, at 10 weeks or earlier, thats why its done after 11 weeks But I'll write more tomorrow.
Sharyn x
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Permalink Reply by Karen on
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I had CVS done when I was pregnant with my son. dmd was not on the screen. It would have been nice to know a head of time. The procedure felt weird (hurt some) but not for long. It was truamatic at all and my son wasn't harmed by the procedure, just the genes he was given.
Karen
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Permalink Reply by Ofelia Marin on
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I had a CVS at 11 weeks and 4 days. It was very fast, did not hurt at all and I did not have any problems after the procedure. The first chromosome results are obtained in less than a week. Unfortunately, they do not test for carrier status if it's a girl here at Ohio State Univ where I had it done. I would do it again if needed.
There were some cases of limb deformities in the past when the procedure was performed too early (before 10 weeks) and they used an older type of needle.
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Permalink Reply by carrie on
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I had cvs with my second son 8 yrs ago, but didnt know to test for DMD at the time since we had no family history and my older son is unaffected. It was fairly uneventful. Didnt hurt at all. At the time, my physician informed me that the increased risk to fetus of cvs vs amnio was very minimal at major medical centers that did a lot of them and had a good track record. The real discrepancy came from those less experienced. My guy did a lot of them as well as other special procedure associated with high risk pregnancies (ie selective ablationof mutiples etc). My understanding was that the risk was potentially inducing sponteneous abortion, but that it was low (dont remember the numbers). I did have the slightest bit of blood afterward (hard pressed to even call it "spotting", rather a single micro-spot barely observable on toilet paper, but because of that they kept me at the office and watched me for the following 30 minutes. No more blood and no problem. I was glad I did it because though I would have terminated under some circumstances even after amnio, I felt Id rather do it sooner if needed. I guess my advice is to go to someone who knows what they are doing.
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We had a CVS with our 3rd child and also with this pregnancy. My eldest is affected by DMD and we only found out when my second was already a year old. For us, we had to have a CVS and find out if the baby was affected by DMD, as we would not willingly let another child be born with this disease. It is already too heartbreaking watching my 4 year old struggle with so many day-to-day things, and he already knows something is wrong and sometimes has difficulty accepting it. So we had a cvs for these two pregnancies.
To be honest, I was terrified about having it done the first time and took my husband with me for support. In the end, it wasn't so bad for me but he almost passed out LOL! It was over within minutes, and preliminary results were back within days. I had the all-clear for DMD in just over a week.
With the first CVS, I had it performed in Singapore and they didn't do the genetic testing once they found out it was a girl. I was 11w2d pregnant. I had a little cramping afterwards, but nothing a little bit of panadol wouldnt' fix. I took it very easy for 2 days and was then up and about doing my usual thing.
With the second CVS, I was 13w5d and had it performed in London. Becuase it was being done so late, they did the genetic testing at the same time as the Karyotyping, so the results were based on whether it was either sex. We found out the baby was DMD-clear adn then the added bonus of it being a boy!! As a DMD mum, you probably know the joy in finding out you have a baby boy without DMD.
For the record, I am not a carrier either, but I wasn't going to take the chance with my future children (with DMD or Downs or any other thing that can be tested inutero). For me, it was that simple. Whilst I know there are people on here who have more than one child with DMD (and I truly admire their strength and capabilities), I personally knew I couldn't do that to my marriage and my family as we already have a lot on our plate in the future. I had to be selfish for my other kids, as well as the unborn babies.
In regards to risks, as Carrie said you need to have someone "seasoned" to perform the procedure. That said, this recent CVS was performed by a trainee, but with one of the most experienced doctors in the UK guiding her through the ENTIRE procedure, so I still felt in good hands. THere is a 1% chance of miscarriage, and most of the time this is due to the fact that the pregnancy was naturally going to end up in miscarriage (since we aren't really considered "safe" until around 13 weeks and there is still a 1-2% chance of miscarriage in the late part of the first trimester), or the mother did not take it easy after the procedure and continued with strenuous activity. As long as you take it easy, you should be fine.
I hope it all goes well, and please keep us posted with any results. At the end of the day, I have 3 beautiful perfect children, with another due beginning of August, and my eldest (who is 4 and has DMD) is just totally in love with every sibling and i know they make his life so unbelievably bright, the way he does ours. We just wanted to surround our son with as much love and joy as possible, to make his life as full and wonderful as possible. It was that simple.
Sharyn.
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Permalink Reply by Colin McKenzie on
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My wife had a CVS done at 11 weeks and a few days, the risk of limb deformities as far as we were told is if it is done to early, hence wait for 11 weeks, The risk is stated as 1:100 possibility of miscarrage, same as Amnio at 15 weeks. In saying this, you need a experienced person to do this proceedure as it is relativly unknown, I would check the credentials of the Doctor performing the proceedure, Amnio is done almost routine these days so there are many experienced in it.
The upside of CVS (if there is such a thing), is that if you intend to terminate, it is done as a D and C (routine proceedure). Waiting for Amnio will require a CS.
We hope you find the result you are looking for if you are pregnant now. Good luck and let us know your thoights if and when you go through with the test.
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