cvs or amniocentesis?

Question

A 42 year old woman is having her first child. She is healthy and the pregnancy is going normally. She has been advised to have a prenatal test due to her age. CVS or amniocentesis?
What are your reasons

Answer 1

CVS can be done earlier in the pregnancy, but amniocentesis is generally thought to be a safer procedure. The rate of miscarriage following amnio is something like 1 in 1500 wheras for CVS has a slightly higher rate and also there is the risk of infection. Both tests can be used to identify the baby's sex and several possible genetic abnormalities, but CVS does not test alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) which is a marker for neural tube defects such as spina bifidia and anencephaly. However AFP can be detected in the mother's blood.

Answer 2

Amniocentesis and Chorionic villi sampling is done to test for chromosomal abnormalities.The result of the amniocentesis takes time compared to CVS. In CVS, a little portion of the placenta is taken as a sample.

Answer 3

I would say Amniocentesis because there is less risk involved. Amniocentesis has less risk of miscarriage about 1 in 200, instead of CVS which is about one percent higher than the spontaneous miscarriage rate, which is about 1/3 pregnancies.

Answer 4

Hi:) I've always gone with amnio since the risks are lower than with CVS.CVS is good if you want really early results but the miscarriage rate is a bit higher than amnio.I would do my homework,call the center where the tests are supposed to be done and ask what THEIR complication rates are for both procedures.With either test you can ask for something called FISH, it will give you the results for some things within 48 hours rather than the usual 2-4 weeks.She can also ask for a Nuchal translucency test which measures the thickness of the baby's neck fold between I believe 11 and 13.6 weeks. but they will still recommend further testing because of age.HTH's