Had Urea Breath Test, Ultrasound Upper Abdomen, Later Pregnancy Confirmed. Will It Affect Baby?
Doctor, I am 36 and had a Urea breath test on 8/15 and an upper abdominal ultrasound on 8/17. When I had the test, the pregenency test was negtive but yesterday the test turned positive. I am worry about whether this will hurt the baby. The list is as below: 7/20 last period start 8/6 ovulation tested 8/15 -- 10 days after ovulation, preganency test negtive 8/17 ultrasound 8/24 preganency test positive. Thanks! Lily
Wed, 29 Aug 2012
OBGYN, Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Dr. Srividhya's Response
Hi Lily, Congrats for your pregnancy.
The urea breath test is widely used for diagnosis of gastric H Pylori infection. The ionizing radiation dose involved in this test is extremely low, much lower than the radiation dose absorbed from natural sources. It is at least a thousand times lower than the amount of fetal radiation considered to be teratogenic (0.31 to 5.6 mrad vs 5000 mrad).
Even in the event of inadvertent exposure during pregnancy,fetal radiation dose is low. Frequent voiding (eg, every 2 hours) can reduce the internal radiation-absorbed dose by 40% to 50%. Further, in your case the exposure has occurred at 4 weeks’ gestation. This is before the most vulnerable period for the teratogenic effects of ionizing radiation, which is 8 to 25 weeks’ gestation.
However ultrasound does not have an harm full effect on fetus. Consult your gynecologist for your routine antenatal check up and for NT scan at 11 - 13+5wks and routine anomaly scan at 20 wks gestation.
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Had Urea Breath Test, Ultrasound Upper Abdomen, Later Pregnancy Confirmed. Will It Affect Baby?
Hi Lily, Congrats for your pregnancy. The urea breath test is widely used for diagnosis of gastric H Pylori infection. The ionizing radiation dose involved in this test is extremely low, much lower than the radiation dose absorbed from natural sources. It is at least a thousand times lower than the amount of fetal radiation considered to be teratogenic (0.31 to 5.6 mrad vs 5000 mrad). Even in the event of inadvertent exposure during pregnancy,fetal radiation dose is low. Frequent voiding (eg, every 2 hours) can reduce the internal radiation-absorbed dose by 40% to 50%. Further, in your case the exposure has occurred at 4 weeks’ gestation. This is before the most vulnerable period for the teratogenic effects of ionizing radiation, which is 8 to 25 weeks’ gestation. However ultrasound does not have an harm full effect on fetus. Consult your gynecologist for your routine antenatal check up and for NT scan at 11 - 13+5wks and routine anomaly scan at 20 wks gestation.