| Name: traci | Date: Sep 13th, 2007 3:05 PM |
| Hi I had an ultrasound yesterday, I am close to 22 weeks, and the Dr. mentioned the baby's kidneys were full of fluid. He called dilated renal fetus pelvic. He never mentioned pyelectasis- I never heard of it before. I am worried sick and have not found much research on this. Anyone had the same diagnosis? ↑ |
| Name: MomOf2Boys | Date: Sep 16th, 2007 8:54 AM |
| I also had an ultrasound around 22 weeks, that showed my son had dilated kidneys. I continued to have monthly ultrasounds (they all still showed the same thing). I went to every web site that I could find. I was terrified! I was also told he would have to have surgery soon after birth. My OB sent me to a specialist who said that both kidneys were dilated and that the baby had a chance of being born with down syndrome. Needless to say I was constantly worried throughout my whole pregnancy. My healthy baby boy was born August 29, 2007. The day after his birth he had an ultrasound.... kidneys still dilated! He was put on antibiotics to help him stay clear of any possible UTI. One week after he was born, his pediatrician sent us to a Nephrology specialist. He told us all the possible problems, and checked his blood and urine.... both were fine (no infection), then ordered a renal scan to check for an obstruction, and a VCUG to check for a reflux. The Dr. called us three days later with the results.... no obstruction, and no reflux. Later the same day our pediatrician called and told us the same thing, except he said that neither test showed he had dilated kidneys (he called it hydronephrosis). I was so relieved. The Nephrology specialist. told us that one of the possible reasons that his kidneys were dilated is that God just made him that way and everything was fine. They want to do another scan in a month or so to see how things are then. For right now, we will continue to pray for him, and love him deeply. I truely hope this helps ease some fears. ↑ |
| Name: Stephanie219 | Date: Sep 17th, 2007 12:55 PM |
| We had our 35 week ultrasound done today. I was a dissapointed. One side was measuring 7mm and the other measured 13mm. The ultrasound tech said that this is the most common finding and she sees it alot and then the specialist came in today and talked to us. He said that most of the time the kidneys will be normal by birth or shortly after. He also said that he recommends having a scan at the hosptial right after birth but not to be fooled if that one is alright. He said we should have another scan on the baby after 3-4 weeks. He said that sometimes the hospital scan will be normal due to slight dehydration of the baby. But then in a few weeks there might be a problem that is going undiagnosed. So his advice is to make sure that the baby gets a scan about a month after birth even if everything looks good at birth! I am not sure if I will have another ultrasound while I am pregnant or if they are going to wait. But I will keep posting updates. I am so glad that I found this forum, otherwise I would have come out of our appointment in tears. This is worriesome to me but atleast I am well informed and staying on top of appointments since I know more about this medical issue. Please someone send some prayers our way in the next few weeks. ↑ |
| Name: kathie | Date: Sep 24th, 2007 6:00 PM |
| I would like to share with you my story. I am 40 years old, had one live birth, my daughter who is 5, three miscarriages after her, and am now 18 weeks pregnant again with a boy. Last week I went to my ultrasound/amnio appointment and was told my son has pyelectasis and may have down syndrome due to the kidney issue. My AFP came back normal but based on my age and ultrasound findings they gave me a 1 and 63 chance of having a DS baby. I went ahead and had the amnio and FISH test. It came back today NORMAL! For all of you out there getting the results from these, "specialist" please have faith. I have had the worst week of my life wondering if my son was okay or not. Everything I had read says pyelectasis has a 73% chance of correcting itself before he is born. I don't know the mm on either kidney just that they ar both affected and I will have follow up ultrasound to watch the progress of the kidneys. Also another thing I read and my regular doc said unless they find two or more soft markers, that you only have a .05% chance of DS with pyelectasis. God Bless ↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Sep 25th, 2007 9:52 AM |
Thank you Kathy. You have given me hope. I wish I could remain calm but for the last 2 months I have been very upset thinking about all the bad things specially the DS. I hope your story calms me a bit. I have my next appt on Oct 1st with the Neonatologist.
Marty ↑ |
| Name: paul | Date: Sep 26th, 2007 1:55 PM |
| my wife just had an ultrasound today; a "midwife" told her that there was 8mm around the kidneys; she threw out the DS possibility and really upset my wife; My wife will be 36 on Saturday; how worried should we be about out baby having DS? how common is the pyelectasis among fetuses] we have 2 other children who are as healthy as they can be. ↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Sep 26th, 2007 3:50 PM |
Hi Paul I just read a very interesting paper and I thought you might want to read it also. It has put me at much ease. If we have only ONE soft marker like Pyelectasis I dont think we should be worrying at all. Please tell your wife that I am 27 weeks and going through the same thing. I have good days and very sad days. It has been quite a journey. Please read and please write back. We can pray for one another.
God Bless us all and we pray for healthy babies.
http://www.sogc.org/guidelines/pdf/JOGC-ju
ne05-Fetalmarkers-revised-ENG-CPG.pdf
Marty
↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Sep 26th, 2007 3:57 PM |
Thought I would add the summary:
In summary, the screening ultrasound at 16 to 20 weeks
should evaluate 8 markers, of which 5 (thickened nuchal
fold, echogenic bowel, mild ventriculomegaly, echogenic
intracardiac focus, and choroid plexus cyst) are associated
with an increased risk of fetal aneuploidy as well as
nonchromosomal problems, while 3 (single umbilical
artery, pyelectasis, and enlarged cisterna magna) are only
associated with an increased risk of nonchromosomal problems
when seen in isolation. ↑ |
| Name: Paul | Date: Sep 27th, 2007 10:02 AM |
i cut an exerpt on that article. thanks Marty; this does make us feel better; our midwife just said it like it as almost inevitable that because of the Pyelectasis our baby would have DS. Thanks!
Isolated Pyelectasis is seen in 0.7% of fetuses at 16-26 weeks gestation. It is an isolated finding in fetal DS in approx. 2%. Although the likelihood ratio for DS is approx. 1.9, the 95% CI does cross 1(0.7 -5.1), indicating lack of significance. In the absence of other risk factors, the chance of DS in the presence of isolated mild pyelectasis remains small and does not justify an invasive diagnostic prodecure ↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Sep 27th, 2007 3:21 PM |
Paul I went to the Doctors today and went through everything again, He said to please be patient that chances are this would disappear on its own. He has NOT seen any reason for me to think that could even be considered. He says that with the enormous amount of ultrasounds I have had if there was anything else wrong they would have seen it.
So in another words we need to have faith!
Take Care
Marty ↑ |
| Name: Amy | Date: Sep 28th, 2007 3:32 PM |
| Can anyone relate? I am having a boy and he has pyelectasis. At our level 2 ultrasound at 20 weeks this is all they found. They say this is very common in boys. At our 25 week ultrasound he now only has one dilated kidney (so its getting a little better) and now has a short femur. I think the femus is supposed to be between 4.15-4.99 and his was 4.0. I am not sure I want an amnio and my quad screen came back 1:38,000 becuase I am only 26. Does anyone know what my chances are of having DS? ↑ |
| Name: Amy | Date: Sep 28th, 2007 7:35 PM |
| Sorry I am just really confused and it seems when one thing goes right another goes wrong. Has anyone had these 2 soft signs that i listed above. I am so glad I found this site. ↑ |
| Name: Wendy | Date: Sep 29th, 2007 11:55 AM |
Amy--I know it's hard not to worry when your baby has two soft signs from my own experience. Just to reassure you, scan backwards through these posts and you will find others with two soft markers. It is scary to read others saying, it's only if you have *more than one* soft marker that you have to worry--I don't think those people realize how much fear they could put in us.
I wouldn't want to know the odds if I wasn't planning on following it up with an amnio, in my opinion. I feel almost completely confident that this baby is DS free, and yours probably is as well. They are called soft markers because they are soft, and barely correlated with Downs. ESPECIALLY if you had a good quad screen and your baby looks great otherwise. My husband is hurrying me out the door, but I just didn't want to leave you hanging all day. Most days, I don't even think about the markers. Hopefully you will find the strength to put it to the back of your mind as well, and your drs will not needlessly feed fear. ↑ |
| Name: Alison | Date: Sep 29th, 2007 8:15 PM |
| Well, I think my timing is perfect, considering Wendy's latest post. I wanted to share another happy ending with all of you.... During my 20 week ultrasound back in May, my baby was found to have 2 soft markers (echogenic foci in the heart and pylectasis).. after many more ultrasounds, the markers both disappeared but my risk of having a baby with Down's stayed the same (double my quad screen results). So we went from1 in 10,000 (I"m 32) to 1 in 5,000 --- and I worried about it every day. Well, my dear daughter was born on Thursday morning (10 days early!) and is perfectly healthy. So, please keep hope in you heart.. I'm sure everything will be just fine! Best of luck to everyone.... ↑ |
| Name: Janice | Date: Sep 29th, 2007 11:20 PM |
| Hello all, I had an u/s at 18 weeks and they found my baby boy's kidney a little over 5mm, I went back when I was 31 weeks and it was still dilated. I will be seeing a specialist next week to see what the cause of the dilation is. None of my doctor's informed me this was a link to down's syndrome until I started researcing it online. They told me not to worry about it because it is common in boys. But now that I have read about it being connected with DS I am worried to death. My quad test came back negative so I'm not sure if that is significant or not. I'm thinking about getting amnio just for peace of mind or so that my husband and I can be prepared, I do not want this to be a surprise. I know this is just an isolated "soft marker" but there is still a chance my baby can have DS. ↑ |
| Name: Amy | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 2:10 PM |
| Wendy- Thank you for your reply. I just hope everything goes okay. I am trying to prepare myself for whatever happens. At this point I am considering the Amnio before I drive myself and my husband crazy with all this. It isn't fair what doctors put you through with "soft markers". What signs did or does your baby have? I will pray for him/her as well as all of us going through all of this worry. Thank you again. Amy ↑ |
| Name: Amy | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 2:32 PM |
| Janice-I was told the same thing. That fluid in the kidneys is common in boys. I am sure everything is fine, especially since you only have one "soft marker". Try and stay strong and if its any help to you one of my sons kidneys is clearing up some and I am at 27 weeks. I have heard this problem sometimes clears itsefl before birth ↑ |
| Name: Janice | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 4:01 PM |
| Does anyone know the significance of the quad test? I've been researching online and it says that it can detect 98% of Down Syndrome cases. Does anyone else have any other information? ↑ |
| Name: Wendy | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 10:43 PM |
Amy--My baby had bilateral pyelectasis (7.5R, 5.3L) and what they thought was an echogenic intracardiac focus (harmless spot on heart) at my 20 week regular u/s. I did worry on and off for that first week and a half before I got my level II, frantically searching the internet for peace of mind. At 22 weeks, the spot was *gone*, and both kidneys were far less dilated, to the point that one wasn't even considered mild pyelectasis and the other was just borderline. My baby was just so huge and healthy that my faith was renewed beyond almost all doubt that this little one is chromosomally normal.
Could I be surprised at birth with DS? Yes, there is a teensy chance, but I will be so glad to meet my baby! And it seems like such a miniscule chance to me now that it doesn't even bother me. I know not everyone can look at their baby on ultrasound and feel that good. It helps that I don't know the odds--I think that would only be discouraging and cause needless fear. If I couldn't shake the worry, I would consider an amnio, but I'm really okay with just looking forward to my baby now. I don't know the gender, btw. Just read this board over and over again, it's a good start toward helping with worries. I hope you get some quality reassurance, and if you need an amnio, don't be ashamed. ↑ |
| Name: Wendy | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 10:46 PM |
| Janice--it may help you to go over to Babycenter and post on their Prenatal Testing bulletin boards. They can answer lots of questions about Quad screens. Oh, and DS is correlated more with bilateral pyelectasis when it is correlated at all. Best of luck! ↑ |
| Name: Wendy | Date: Sep 30th, 2007 10:47 PM |
| Alison--Congratulations on your new baby girl!!! Thanks for coming back to post. I love happy endings (or beginnings, in this case!). ↑ |
| Name: Stephanie219 | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 9:40 AM |
| I am 37 weeks now and I am getting nervous now!!! I do not think I will be able to relax about this issue until I have the baby and everything is alright. I still worry about the DS issue, and now I am worrying about the baby having to have some kind of surgery for a blockage or something. This is so scary! It makes me not want to have any more children especially if there is a chance of having to worry about this again. ↑ |
| Name: Janice | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 10:10 AM |
| Stephanie219-Did you get the quad test done?/ ↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 11:13 AM |
Came from the new Neonatologist this morning and God do I feel much better. Both the babies kidneys are now under 5mm compared to a month ago the right one was at 8mm. He went through everything with me and told me that this is no longer considered a marker for me comparing it with everything else including my blood test. The only thing we would need to worry about is my age ( I am 38). I saw his little face and they gave me a pic of him on 4D he is sooo cute. His toes and fingers and face and all look so real he is gorgeous. I am going to ENJOY the rest of my pregnancy and not let any other Dr scare me anymore. I am also going to back off a little on the Internet even though I have read and learned a lot I have also overwhelmed myself with too much information. I wish us all the best and a HEALTHY outcome. God Bless us all!
Marty ↑ |
| Name: Marty | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 11:15 AM |
| I wanted to share something else. My Doctor says he refers to this making it nice and simple as the Baby does not know how to pipi yet... I hope hes learning! :) ↑ |
| Name: Bonnie | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 8:16 PM |
| Yeah I just had a similiar experience. At my 29 week ultrasound and again at 32 weeks. My doctor told me that antibotics should clear this up after birth ↑ |
| Name: Janice | Date: Oct 1st, 2007 9:43 PM |
| Bonnie-Did your doctor ever tell that this was a sign of Down Syndrome? My first sonographer told me not to worry about it, then my second sonographer told me the same thing. My new doctor told me there was nothing to worry about but if I was having a girl that he would be more worried because it is more common in boys. I meet with a perinatologist next week and it is driving me crazy. I'm thinking about getting an amnio just for peace of mind of to better prepare myself. ↑ |
| Name: Stephanie219 | Date: Oct 2nd, 2007 8:10 AM |
| Janice- No I did not have the blood test. I refused it because I have known a few people who have had false positive tests. I am a worrier, and I was trying to save myself from unneccessary worry. HA! I am still worrying. I did have the 11 week NT scan and that was normal, but I refused the blood test. Now looking back I wish I would have had it. ↑ |
| Name: Charlene | Date: Oct 8th, 2007 12:35 PM |
| I haven't posted before, but read replies when I found out at my 20 week ultrasound in May that my baby had pyelectasis. I want to let everyone know I had a healthy 8lb 13oz boy on 10/4. His pyelectasis had been mild and had cleared up before birth, but I also had a positive for Down syndrome - 1 in 77. We had decided not to do the amnio since we wouldn't terminate anyway and 1 in 77 is only a 1.25% chance that there was anything wrong. Also I was 34 at the time of conception and turned 35 while pregnant and that made me feel better. Thankfully I was able to not worry too much and he was born perfectly healthy. So I just wanted to post good news that even with the soft marker and a positive screen your baby most likely will be born completely healthy. ↑ |
| Name: Aubrey | Date: Oct 8th, 2007 2:30 PM |
| Reading everyone's outcomes made me feel so much better while I was pregnant, so I just wanted to share mine. My 35 week ultrasound showed my son had bilateral pyelectasis (7 and 9 mm) and I was so worried since I didnt have any of the screening tests done, not to mention him possibly needing surgery. But he was born Sept 27th, and was perfectly healthy, the did and ultrasound on his kidneys a few days later and found absolutely nothing wrong with them. ↑ |
| Name: Amy | Date: Oct 8th, 2007 2:47 PM |
| Thank you for sharing your stories. I love hearing them, it is what keeps me going day to day. I opted not to have the amnio but it is still hard considering I have 2 markers for DS. The pyelectasis is clearing up and I keep my fingers crossed that at 30 weeks it will be gone and that his short femur will be longer. One ultrasound the femur was short and the other ultrasound the femur was not. So who knows. I just hope is is a slow grower. Thanks again for the happy ending stories. And congrats on y our healty wonderful new additions! ↑ |
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