QuestionMy LMP was 4/16/10 and it appeared to be normal. I went to the ER on 5/3/10 with abdominal pain and slight brownish discharge. It never turned red. A Quant was done and my levels were 390. A regular ultrasound as well as a trans=vaginal ultrasound was completed and at that time nothing could be seen. I returned to the clinic on 5/5/10 to have the levels retested and was told they had gone down to 289. My questions are:
a) Is it too early to see anything on the ultrasound at 2wk?
b) What does the drop in numbers mean and is this pregnancy viable?
c) With an estimated conception date of 4/30, is it possible to have such high number 2 days after conception?
d) Could the date of conception be off?
Thanks in advance for any answers that you can provide.
AnswerDear Clarissa
Yes. May 3rd is definitely too early for anything to be diagnosed if pregnancy occured in April 30. The hCG levels is not conclusive for any events. Its normal range is so wide and this may be in the range of several hundreds. Therefore a drop of few numbers should not be a problem. However, you should keep in mind that changing levels of hCG has nothing to do with viability of pregnancy unless it iz equal to zero.
Therefore, the only way to make sure is to have a transvaginal ultrasound at least 3-4 weeks after your missed period provided that the ultrasound machine is of high resolution with a good sonographer. If none is available, a delay for 1 more week is better.
