I copied and pasted this b/c it explained it better than I could.
"The increased thickness of the skin fold reflects the increased edema – or fluid congestion in the subcutaneous tissue, and the accumulation is commonly due to failure to establish normal lymphatic flow into the blood circulation. This condition is associated with many genetic syndromes, like Down’s Syndrome, and major heart defects. In a small group of such affected fetuses, there may be no abnormal condition found despite doing all diagnostic tests, and the fetuses eventually were normal."
How it's been explained to me is this....A fetus can have a heart defect in utero that corrects itself before birth. (ASDs...VSDs...PDAs...can all correct themselves....) Because of the heart condition the fetus can present itself with the increased edema.
On another note...a child with Down Syndrome can have a normal NT at the time of the scan. This is usually b/c those fetuses, with DS, didnt have a heart defect...That is why the NT is the scan and the blood work.
Im not an expert on this...but my eldest daughter has Down Syndrome. So I tend to spend a lot of my time chatting with new parents....I also went to school with the intentions of becoming a genetic counselor...so my experience is pretty vast. Although..admittedly...that was a million years ago. (My daughter will be 18 in January)
If you want to chat please feel free to FM me. Im not on LIF a lot but I check in from time to time.
