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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Thickness On Feteus Back?

My daughter is 13 wks pregnant and is pregnant for tripletts. She had her appointment today with the high risk specialist who told her, babys are at a good weight, and strong heart beats, however, Baby "B" has a thickness in the back of its neck. She tried to explain to me what this could mean, but I want to understand more about this. Can anyone help me?
posted on Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Twitter Wed, 15 Apr 2015 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 16 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on
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OBGYN, Maternal and Fetal Medicine,  's  Response
Hi
I think what your daughter's doctor means is that the baby's neck thickness is increased. All babies have a certain amount if fluid in the neck called the "nuchal translucency" or the NT. NT can be increased in many situations, such as:
1. Chromosomal abnormalities
2. heart defects
3.genetic defects
4. Idiopathic- unknown
5. Normal

Any of the above causes can cause an increased NT. However, the cause cannot be known on scan. If your daughter wants to find out if the chromosomes are normal, she has to undergo an invasive procedure called Chorionic Villous sampling "CVS" or an amniocentesis where a needle is inserted in the mother's tummy and some of the fluid around the baby is taken and tested for chromosomes.
If the chromosomes are normal, then she will require an early anomaly scan at 16 weeks to look for cardiac defects. If all is ok, then I think it will resolve on its own.
I hope I have cleared your doubts.
All the best
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What Causes Thickness On Feteus Back?

Hi I think what your daughter s doctor means is that the baby s neck thickness is increased. All babies have a certain amount if fluid in the neck called the nuchal translucency or the NT. NT can be increased in many situations, such as: 1. Chromosomal abnormalities 2. heart defects 3.genetic defects 4. Idiopathic- unknown 5. Normal Any of the above causes can cause an increased NT. However, the cause cannot be known on scan. If your daughter wants to find out if the chromosomes are normal, she has to undergo an invasive procedure called Chorionic Villous sampling CVS or an amniocentesis where a needle is inserted in the mother s tummy and some of the fluid around the baby is taken and tested for chromosomes. If the chromosomes are normal, then she will require an early anomaly scan at 16 weeks to look for cardiac defects. If all is ok, then I think it will resolve on its own. I hope I have cleared your doubts. All the best