Is NT examination done by B-ultrasound?

For the sake of their own health and that of their babies, pregnant women should go to the hospital regularly for prenatal check-ups during pregnancy. Maternal examinations are not only to check the baby's health in the mother's body, but also to detect whether there are some congenital diseases. For example, Down syndrome is a congenital disease. In order to exclude Down syndrome, a NT test is needed, but is B-ultrasound used during the NT test?

Is NT a vaginal ultrasound or a B-ultrasound?

The NT test is also one of the diagnostic bases for early Down syndrome screening. The purpose of the test is to diagnose chromosomal diseases and detect fetal abnormalities caused by various reasons at an earlier stage of pregnancy. This NT examination is a B-ultrasound, not a vaginal ultrasound. Doctors will try not to perform vaginal ultrasound examinations during pregnancy.

The difference between NT test and Down syndrome screening

1. NT screening refers to the thickness of the nuchal translucency and the serum test of pregnant women. The nuchal translucency refers to the space where water accumulates under the skin behind the fetus' neck. During an ultrasound scan, the doctor will measure the thickness of the space between the skin and tissue in detail. The nuchal translucency will be significantly thickened in fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities, especially in babies with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is usually more likely to occur in older mothers. Medical literature has confirmed that the thicker the nuchal translucency of the fetus, the higher the chance of chromosomal abnormalities. NT screening is performed between 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy.

2. Down syndrome screening is a detection method that extracts serum from pregnant women, tests the concentration of alpha-fetoprotein, chorionic gonadotropin and free estriol in the maternal serum, and calculates the risk of giving birth to a fetus with congenital defects based on the pregnant woman's expected date of delivery, weight, age, weight and gestational age at the time of blood collection. The best time to do Down syndrome screening is between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.

3. NT is an ultrasound used to screen for trisomy 21 at around 11-13 weeks of pregnancy, while Down syndrome screening is a screening method using serum blood markers at around 15-18 weeks of pregnancy. These are examinations performed using different methods at different stages, and sometimes a combined examination of the two is required.

To sum up, these are my understandings and insights on the question of whether NT should be done by transvaginal ultrasound or B-ultrasound. I hope it will be helpful to everyone. A series of prenatal examinations are all for the purpose of giving birth to a healthy baby. Although it is very hard, pregnant mothers must persist. When the baby is born, all the hard work seems worth it because life is continued.