Pregnancy Outcomes Following False-Positive Multiple Marker Screening Tests

ABSTRACT

Pregnancy outcomes in women with a false-positive midtrimester multiple marker screening test (MMST) were reviewed. A genetic database was used to identify all women ≥ age 30 who had a MMST at 15-20 weeks of gestation, a targeted ultrasound, and amniocentesis, and complete pregnancy outcome data. All patients with an abnormal fetal ultrasound (US) or karyotype were excluded. The incidence of adverse outcomes (defined as fetal death, preterm delivery, or a birth weight less than the 10th percentile for gestational age), in those women with a positive MMST (risk of Down's syndrome ≥ 1:190) was compared to the incidence of adverse outcomes in control women with negative MMST. Chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact tests were used for comparisons as appropriate. Complete data was available from 1135 women. Seventy-seven percent were over age 35. Two hundred and forty-six women (22%) had a positive multiple marker test. No significant differences in outcomes were discovered after comparisons to controls: fetal death 1 of 246 (0.4%) versus 12 of 889 (1.3%), p = 0.32; preterm delivery 32 of 246 (13.0%) versus 147 of 889 (16.5%), p = 0.17; birth weight less than the 10th percentile, 9 of 246 (3.7%) versus 30 of 889 (3.4%), p = 0.83. Our data suggest that women ≥ age 30 with a false-positive MMST and a normal midtrimester obstetrical sonogram are not at an increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes in later gestation.

Keywords

Down's syndrome - triple screen