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NT、NIFTY or Harmony Test,which is better?

  1. #9
    btc
    btc is offline Registered User
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    @Lesiley, the pricing sounds about right, NIFTY cost $6500, I think Harmony was about $2000 more (maybe slightly more or less). They are essentially the same but some people are more comfortable with US-based lab rather than Shenzhen. OSCAR was about $1200.


  2. #10
    pollyrafiq is offline Registered User
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    I have done the Nifty Test on week 12 pregnancy and detect the gender of the baby, it varies from private doctor from HKD8k to 10k while it is the same group of scientists from T21 then after the split of their collective results, T21 was then formed and use a different lab and create the legal patent issue, but T21 was reported a few low technical issues in the medical industry therefore not highly recommended by the private doctor but not revealed by the press media.


  3. #11
    CoquinaHK is offline Registered User
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    Hi Lesiley,
    I have done both tests in London, the Harmony Test (at week 10+1) and the Nuchal Translucency Scan (at week 12+3).

    NT examines many things, The nuchal translucency thickness, but also organs like bladder, stomach, skull/brain, abdomen, heart, tricuspid flow. Th scan results are usually combined (hence, the name combined test or bi-test, at least in UK) with a blood test looking for a specific hormone levels and B-HCG in maternal blood (I have done this blood test too at week 10), and the mother's age, to give a probability of Down Syndrome (and also T13 and T18). Probability is expressed in low risk, medium risk or high risk. In case results show high or medium risk, doctors will usually recommend further enquiries.

    Harmony Test (samples are sent to Ariosa lab in California) analyses the fetal dna that circulates in maternal blood from week 10.

    Both NT and Harmony (Or Nifty, or any other commercial fetal DNA test) are great because they are not invasive or risky for mother and child, and they are very accurate. However, although they are quite accurate, they are still screening tests, not diagnostic, as btc wrote. They only diagnostic tests for Down Syndrome (and for many other genetic disorders) which give a 100% sure result are Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (cvs), but unfortunately they have a 0.5 -1 % risk to provoke a miscarriage...

    As btc, I have decided to do both harmony and TN to be on the safe side, but many people only do one or the other, if results are good.
    I have to say that I have been advised by my doctor to have a NT scan anyway, regardless of the Harmony test, because with this early scan doctors can spot other abnormalities that are not necessarily linked to genetic disorders and that a dna test would not detect.

    Unfortunately I cannot help regarding prices in HK.

    @pollyrafiq, I was not aware of issues with T21! So, one more reason to be happy than I have done both tests ;)

    And, hey, I am now finally in HK and look forward to meeting you all! Any gathering planned for the near future?

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  4. #12
    Lesiley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by btc View Post
    @Lesiley, the pricing sounds about right, NIFTY cost $6500, I think Harmony was about $2000 more (maybe slightly more or less). They are essentially the same but some people are more comfortable with US-based lab rather than Shenzhen. OSCAR was about $1200.
    Thank you btc, the new OB's nurse just contacted me to arrange tests for me, but she mentioned NT, then Harmony, so does it mean NT a must do test before OSCAR/NIFTY/Harmony? Or is it optional? Because I read some posts, many mom complained about their NT experience, after they finished the NT test, they had blood came out which made them very nervous and uncomfortable. Also I haven't decided to do NIFTY or Harmony yet, if they both provide the same accurate results and essentially the same, just base on different lab locations, I wonder if it is necessary to spend extra for the same kind of ttest.


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  5. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by pollyrafiq View Post
    I have done the Nifty Test on week 12 pregnancy and detect the gender of the baby, it varies from private doctor from HKD8k to 10k while it is the same group of scientists from T21 then after the split of their collective results, T21 was then formed and use a different lab and create the legal patent issue, but T21 was reported a few low technical issues in the medical industry therefore not highly recommended by the private doctor but not revealed by the press media.
    Hi Polly, thanks for your reply and more useful info about T21, I think it will stick with NIFTY or Harmony instead of T21. Have you done NT as well? I mean before you did NIFTY.



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  6. #14
    btc
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    @Lesiley - No need to worry. I'm not sure why people would equate blood coming out with NT scan as it's just part of the 12-week ultrasound (same as measuring baby's length). The Doctor does it from the ultrasound so it's completely non-invasive.

    NT is just a measurement of the thickness/translucency Nuchal Fold at the back of the neck.

    The OSCAR is a blood test - your blood not the baby's and the risk is calculated using maternal age & weight, maternal hormone levels, NT measurement and baby length. I got my results in 2-3 days.

    Here's a link explaining NT screening.


  7. #15
    pollyrafiq is offline Registered User
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    Lesiley, no such requirement for NT if I have done Nifty, good enough and enough praying from one test to another, I will have morphology (structural) scan next weekend, that will require another praying too!


  8. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by pollyrafiq View Post
    Lesiley, no such requirement for NT if I have done Nifty, good enough and enough praying from one test to another, I will have morphology (structural) scan next weekend, that will require another praying too!
    But I was required to do NT+NIFTY, I Thot NT is a must do test. If NIFTY is good enough and NT is optional, hope I can give NT a miss. Really confused.


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