Pregnant. Ultrasound Could Not Detect Heartbeat. Miscarriage?

Posted on Thu, 30 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 30 May 2013 Answered on

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi I had a ultra sound last Friday and they could not detect a heart beat I still feel pregnent and I did a urine test and it is positive I'm confused cos my doctor says I will miss carriage what do think

Answered by Dr. Sree Gouri SR (31 minutes later)

Hi,
Thanks for the query.

Sometimes ultrasound could not detect the fetal heart rate in early pregnancy.
But, if you crossed 7 weeks of gestation and the ultrasound showed absence of fetal heart beat then there is possibility of miscarriage.
Urine pregnancy test kits detect beta HCG levels in the urine and give positive results.
And these levels will take some days to come to zero level even after miscarriage. And also pregnancy symptoms can persist for few days after miscarriage.
So you have to consider the ultrasound report only. If needed you can go for repeat scan and decide further.
Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer your follow up queries. If you are satisfied with all my answer, please rate the answer after closing the discussion.
Take care.

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