How accurate is amniocentesis?

Question

Hi doctor,

I am 20 weeks pregnant and discovered our baby has a hole in his heart. I had two NIPT tests that came back with not enough fetal DNA. I thought my 12-week scan was okay, but they are possibly sending me for an amniocentesis. I am wondering how accurate an amniocentesis is.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

Here the main issue is to exclude all kinds of anomalies, as heart issues could be associated with many syndromes. Nuchal translucency at 12+ weeks needed to check and could give some clues regarding anomalies. Now it is better to have a detailed scan by expert hands for specifically detailed fetal anomalies at 20 weeks and cardiac outflow tract at 22 weeks. Amniocentesis can also help to do investigations at an advanced level by DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), so better to have it as well. These investigations will guide you to manage the rest of the pregnancy and baby just after birth. It will also help to check genetic issues that could be associated with heart issues, suspected management and precautions needed to be taken for the child and the rest of the pregnancy will be clearer after investigations.

Best of luck.