Alpha-fetoprotein screening, also called AFP screening, triple test, and expanded AFP screening, is a screening blood test usually offered between 15-20 weeks of pregnancy. The AFP test can help identify pregnancies that may be at an increased risk of having a baby with certain problems including Down syndrome, trisomy 18, spina bifida, anencephaly, and abdominal wall defects. This information can assist women and their doctors in deciding wheter to pursue futher testing such as amniocentesis or ultrasound. Genetic counseling is usually offered when the AFP test result is screen positive.
The tripletest, also called triplescreen, the Kettering test or the Bart's test, is an investigation performed during pregnancy (usually the second trimester) for fetal trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).
The test is for screening, not for diagnosis, and does not have nearly the same predictive power of amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.
However, the screeningtest carries a much lower risk to the fetus, and in conjunction with the age-related risk by the patient is useful to indicate the need to procede to the more invasive tests.
Screening the blood through the triplescreentest lowers the detection rate to 85 to 90%, but it is not associated with the same complications as invasive methods.
Falsely abnormal triplescreening may be explained by wrong gestational age, multiple gestation (such as twins), vaginal bleeding in the first trimester, or fetal demise.
Similar to the triplescreen, this is a screeningtest and is not diagnostic.
Feeds |
Contact