Nuchal Thickness (頸皮測量)

What is nuchal skin thickness?

Nuchal skin is referred to the skin located at the back of the neck.
It is important to measure the nuchal skin thickness at the early stage of pregnancy because a thickened nuchal skin is associated with many diseases.


Down Syndrome baby with thickened skin fold at the neck

What are the diseases associated with thickened nuchal skin?

1) Down Syndrome (唐氏症)
2) Turner' Syndrome (特納綜合徵)
3) Edward's disease (愛德華綜合徵)
4) Congenital heart defects (心臟問題)
5) Cystic Hydroma (囊性水瘤)



Diagram on the left: A normal nuchal skin measurement
Diagram on the right: A swollen nuchal skin with abnormal thickness



When the measurement of nuchal skin thickness should be done?

The measurement of nuchal skin thickness should be done between 11 to 14 weeks by using high defination ultrasound scan machine.
A measurement more than 2.5mm is considered abnormal.


A routine nuchal measurement and nasal bone at 12 weeks to exclude Down Syndrome baby


If my baby's nuchal measurement is more than 2.5mm, what should I do?

A detailed scan should be done to look for any other organs abnormality.

Sometimes, you are advised by the doctors to undergo amniocentesis to check the baby's DNA.