Question
Yesterday afternoon, I took my baby son to the hospital for a detailed Down Syndrome screening. Due to various reasons, I left without waiting for the results. I only received the result sheet today. I want to ask how to interpret the results of the Down Syndrome screening?
Answer
The general results of the Down Syndrome screening are mainly obtained by extracting serum from pregnant women, combining it with their gestational age, age, and weight to estimate the likelihood of having a risk. Generally, a risk lower than 1 in 1000 is considered low risk; between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 300 is moderate risk; and if greater than 1 in 300, it is considered high risk. It’s important to note that the Down Syndrome screening is only used to determine the likelihood of fetal illness, and a higher number does not necessarily mean the fetus will have abnormalities.