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Ultrasounds
- Abdominal ultrasound is the most common method
- Birth defects can show up in an ultrasound
- The accuracy of an ultrasound also depends on the skill of the ultrasonographer
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How it works
Medical ultrasounds work on the same principle as sonar (used in oceanography to map the sea bed). During an ultrasound, high-frequency sound waves, inaudible to the human ear, are transmitted through the abdomen via a device called a transducer to look at the inside of the abdomen.
An ultrasound can be used during pregnancy to show images of the baby, amniotic sac, placenta and ovaries. It is especially valuable during pregnancy as major anatomical abnormalities or birth defects can show up on an ultrasound. In a prenatal ultrasound, the echoes are recorded and transformed into video or photographic images of your baby - for future reference.
When is an ultrasound performed and why?
During pregnancy, an ultrasound is generally performed at around 20 weeks gestation. The baby's heartbeat and movement of its body, arms and legs can be seen - and the gender can also be determined at around this time. Please note, gender determination through ultrasound is banned in India.
An ultrasound is usually performed earlier in the pregnancy to determine:
- Presence of more than one fetus
- Due date or gestational age (the age of the fetus)
Later in pregnancy, an ultrasound may be used to determine:
- Health of the baby
- Location of the placenta
- Amount of amniotic fluid around the baby
- Position of the baby
- Baby's expected weight
Types of Ultrasound
There are many different types of ultrasound technology that can be used during pregnancy, for various reasons:
Abdominal Ultrasound
Also known as "trans-abdominal", this is the most common method used, especially after 12 weeks of pregnancy (when the uterus has grown up and out of the woman's bony pelvis). You may be asked to drink 4 to 6 glasses of water before the test, so your bladder is full - and told not to urinate till the test is over. This will help the Doctor view the baby better on the ultrasound.
Vaginal Ultrasound
The vaginal or "trans-vaginal" ultrasound is performed by placing a sterilized ultrasound probe inside the vagina. This method is often used during fertility treatment or early pregnancy (less than 12 weeks) as it enables the ultrasonographer to look more closely at the woman's uterus. Vaginal ultrasounds may also be more beneficial if the woman has a retroverted or 'tipped' uterus (up till 12 weeks of pregnancy) or if the ultrasonographer needs to view the woman's cervix or detect a low-lying placenta.
Doppler Ultrasound
'Doppler ultrasounds' are done in the same way as abdominal ultrasounds, but they study the movement of blood (usually through a blood vessel). They are used to assess the functioning of the placenta and the well-being of the baby.
3D & 4D Ultrasound
Though not widely used, 'three-dimensional' ultrasounds (also known as 'ultrasound holographs' are some times recommended to have a better look at an abnormality that may have been detected in a routine ultrasound.
3D ultrasounds work by taking thousands of image 'slices' in a series (called a 'volume of echoes'). The volumes are then digitally stored and shaded to produce 3 dimensional images of the baby that look more life-like. 4D (or 'four-dimensional' images) just means the images can be seen to move in 'real time' so the activity of the baby can be studied.
Ultrasounds during pregnancy can be very useful and provide a lot of information, but it is important to remember that they also have their limitations. The accuracy of a pregnancy ultrasound will very much depend on the qualifications, skill and experience of the ultrasonographer performing the examination, as well as the Doctor's skill at interpreting the images.
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Although the venous angioplasty therapy on neck veins has been done for MS patients at CCSVI Clinic only for the last 18 months it has been performed on narrow or occluded neck veins for other reasons for many years. “Where we encounter blocked neck veins resulting in a reflux of blood to the brain, we treat it as a disease,” says Gupte. “It’s not normal pathology and we have seen improved health outcomes for patients where we have relieved the condition with minimal occurrences of re-stenosis long-term. We believe that our record of safety and success is due to our post-procedure protocol because we have had to take patients back to the OR to re-treat them in that 10-day period. Otherwise some people could have run into trouble, no question.”
Calgary MS patient Maralyn Clarke died recently after being treated for CCSVI at Synergy Health Concepts of Newport Beach, California on an outpatient basis. Synergy Health Concepts discharges patients as a rule without in-clinic provisions for follow up and aftercare. Post-procedure, Mrs. Clarke was discharged, checked into a hotel, and suffered a massive bleed in the brain only hours after the procedure. Dr. Joseph Hewett of Synergy Health recently made a cross-Canada tour promoting his clinic for safe, effective treatment of CCSVI for MS patients at public forums in major Canadian cities including Calgary.
“That just couldn’t happen here, but the sooner we develop written standards and best practices for the liberation procedure and observe them in practice, the safer the MS community will be”, says Dr. Gupte. “The way it is now is just madness. Everyone seems to be taking shortcuts. We know that it is expensive to keep patients in a clinical setting over a single night much less 10 days, but it’s quite absurd to release them the same day they have the procedure. We have always believed it to be unsafe and now it has proven to be unsafe. The thing is, are Synergy Health Concepts and other clinics doing the Liberation Treatment going to be changing their aftercare methods even though they know it is unsafe to release a patient on the same day? The answer is no, even after Mrs. Clarke’s unfortunate and unnecessary death. Therefore, they are not focused on patient safety…it’s become about money only and lives are being put at risk as a result.”
Joanne Warkentin of Morden Manitoba, an MS patient who recently had both the liberation therapy and stem cell therapy at CCSVI Clinic agrees with Dr. Gupte. “Discharging patients on the same day as the procedure is ridiculous. I was in the hospital being monitored for 12 days before we flew back. People looking for a place to have the therapy must do their homework to find better options. We found CCSVI Clinic and there’s no place on earth that’s better to go for Liberation Therapy at the moment. I have given my complete medical file from CCSVI Clinic over to my Canadian physician for review.” For more information Log on to http://ccsviclinic.ca/?p=866 OR Call on Toll Free: 888-419-6855.