PREGNANCY-BIRTH Messages for June, 2002: Re: too early for ultrasound?

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Re: too early for ultrasound? - worried sick

From: William McIntosh, MD (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue, 11 Jun 2002 15:46:15 -0500 (CDT)

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At Tue, 11 Jun 2002, Laurie wrote: >
>I'm scheduled for an vaginal ultrasound on thursday to check for
>heartbeat(chance of missed miscarriage). I'll be exactly 6 weeks 0 days
>from LMP. I've searched the archives and can't seem to find concensus
>on how early a heartbeat can be detected. Will it be too early to see a
>heartbeat? And then will it be assumed that the fetus isn't viable
>anymore? Or is 6 weeks possible to see the heartbeat. I'm so worried
>that it's too early (but this is the only day I could get sqeezed into
>the radiologist's office for an appointment - otherwise I'd have to wait
>2.5 weeks!) My hcg was 8900 at 5.5 weeks. Is there any correlation
>between hcg levels and when a heartbeat can be detected?
>thanks

The heart starts beating at 6 weeks, give or take a couple of days. Therefor, this is the absolute earliest that a heartbeat could be seen. If you can't, that is not proof of a miscarriage, though it is quite disappointing. HCG levels are notoriously unreliable for predicting u/s findings.

-- William D. McIntosh, MD, FACOG

This is for educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for consultation and examination by a licensed medical professional.

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