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What Does Absence Of Fetal Heartbeat During 6 Weeks Of Pregnancy Indicate?

Posted on Sat, 3 Sep 2016

Question: I am supposed to be 6wks4d pregnant. Last Wednesday we saw a gestural sac, yolk sac and fetal pole. Everything measured right on time. This week we were expected to see a heartbeat but we didn't. Hcg has doubled since last visit, went from 6k to 40k. However my doc isn't giving me much hope, stating with high hcg lvl's we should have seen a heartbeat. I asked if it's a good sign that the levels are still doubling but was told no. That's contradicting everything we read. Do you have any ideas?

Answered by Dr. Mahesh Koregol (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Heart beat should have been seen by now

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

I understand your concerns.

Miscarriage is a possibility as heart beat should have been seen by now if transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed.

Transvaginal ultrasound scan detects heartbeat generally by 6 weeks and bet hCG of 6k. Hence not seeing heart beat at 40 k beta hCG is a matter of concern.

Rising beta hCG is good sign as heart beat is clearly seen after a week. I suggest you repeat transvaginal ultrasound scan after a week to identify if there is heart beat.

Let me know if you need anymore help.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar