High hCG Levels in Early Pregnancy: What Do They Mean?

Question
Hi Brenda,
Well im 24years old, and 10w5d pregnant, and i had blood drawn last week to check my hcg levels. they came back as 568568.1. at first i was shocked and thought that it was impossible for levels to be that high. i read that it could indicate downs, or a molar pregnancy. i got a few u/s already which all confrimed a growing fetus with a heart beat of 167. so i ruled out the molar. my next issue was maybe a sign of downs. i wondered if high levels this early on could indicate that. then i realized that the results just seemed strange and the lab could have made a error. my dr ordered to have them retest the same blood. i also got blood drawn again and had it sent to another lab. well the same retested blood came back over 400,000. clearly an error beings that the same blood gave too seperate results. the new blood work came back as 178,389.2 which is perfectly in the range that it should be. so i assume these results are more accurate. my main issue is that could the previous results be accurate, and that the new results indicate a drop? i find it strange that the same blood came back with 2 different levels which leans towards an error. can labs make mistakes like that? i dont want to worry that there was a drop when the first result was inaccurate to begin with. whats the info on levels really high being linked to downs? and would it pertain to the early portion(1st trimester) or the late portion(2&3rd)of pregnancy? i just need some light on this to put me at ease. im going to still get more blood work just to really confirm things and put my mind at ease. theres just too much confusion going on lately, and i havent gotten any answers. ive been stressing from it, and i really want to be able to relax. any advice, info, and encouragement is greatly needed at this point. please shed some light on this. thanks in advance.

Answer
Dear Lena,

For Down's babies and testing, it is a little more complicated... In the first and second trimesters of DS pregnancies, the maternal serum concentrations of free beta hCG and total hCG respectively, are increased while free alpha hCG concentration is not altered. And the determination of DS risk is actually a very complicated calculation of which hCG is only one small factor.

Here's the thing, it does sound like there was a definite discrepancy in your levels. But as long as your level is within normal limits and your ultrasound shows a healthy fetus with a heart rate which is appropriate - which it sounds like it is - I would not be overly concerned. For 9-12 weeks, the normal range is 25,700 - 288,000 mIU/ml and after the 1st trimester the normal range begins to decline. (13 - 16 weeks = 13,300 - 254,000 mIU/ml). So, go ahead and get another level if you really want to, but try not to stress about it to awful much. And my suggestion would be to get the repeat level at the 2nd lab.

I hope this information has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda