| Name: kristin | Date: Mar 15th, 2006 8:29 PM |
| Stephanie-I think you said a lot of really important things. If I am talking to the same person....both our babies have the same markers. I believe one of your markers went away...but anyway, my baby has mild pyelectasis and a white spot on the heart. I took the triple screen and everything came back normal, giving me a 1 in 1000 chance of having a downs baby. I am still worried sick. I still havent gotten a second ultrasound...I have an appointment next week and my doctor will schedule one for me. I am 28 weeks and not due till June, and I cannot calm down about this. I look on the internet all the time, trying to learn new things. This is just ruining my pregnancy and it makes me so sad that I feel this way. My blood work came back good...I am thankful for that, And my doctor tells me things look fine, but I am so scared. I would love to hear from you, and learn more about your pregnancy and what your doctor tells you. My email add. is kristin0769@hotmail.com if you could keep me posted on anything you learn or anything you can tell me to put ease on me, I would appreciate it so much. At this point I think I am going to stop looking things up on the internet. I just get more scared. Thankyou so much :) ↑ |
| Name: kate | Date: Mar 15th, 2006 8:29 PM |
Rena,
I was told by the doctor, that 17% of babies with Down syndrome develop dilated kidney, that is why it's called soft sign of DS. Having one or more signs doesn't mean that your baby is diagnosed with DS, but it does increases concern in medical professionals, therefore they usually offer more test to clarify the picture. ↑ |
| Name: Rena | Date: Mar 15th, 2006 8:42 PM |
| Kate-so do you think the triple screen blood test is a fairly accurate test? Becasue I had two markers, I took the test, and it came back all good ↑ |
| Name: Kate | Date: Mar 15th, 2006 8:56 PM |
| Rene- the negative blood test for DS gives only~60% of guaranty. ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 1:51 PM |
| Hello Ladies - you should read Wendi post from 3/2. I asked my OB about it yesterday and she agreed with what Wendi is saying. They did a study that looked at Downs correlation with kidney problems and found that a lot of Downs babies do happen to have dialated Kidney - OK - that does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that babies with dialated kidney will have downs. My OB still things the "link" is very soft and very unproven. Taking Wendi example...I can say 100% of downs babies have eyes...but that does not mean that 100% of babies with eyes are downs babies. ↑ |
| Name: kristin | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 2:17 PM |
| Ann-I agree with you. I really dont think there has been enough proven this kidney "soft marker" is necisarally a sign of downs. My baby has two soft markers. I took the triple screen and everything came back normal. Sometimes I dont know what to think but my doctor tells me not to worry about downs. Its still a very scary sensitive subject. If you read too much on the internet you just get more scared, because every doctor has there own opinion. I just hope all of us have healthy happy babies!!! ↑ |
| Name: Vasantha | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 2:20 PM |
| What is the normal kidney size at 28th week of the pregnancy. ↑ |
| Name: kristin | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 2:28 PM |
| ya know what I have no idea. I should ask that at my next appt. I still need to go get a 2nd ultra sound done. At 20 weeks my babies kidneys were at around 4mm and 5mm ↑ |
| Name: Stephanie | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 4:21 PM |
Melissa--
The perinatologist was right there during my Level II Ultrasound, so there was no need to wait for his report. He commented throughout the entire procedure. It was so reassuring to hear him say how many things looked "great" or "normal." ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 16th, 2006 8:59 PM |
I think the 'cut-off' for concern in the size of the renal pelvis is 4mm before 28 weeks and 7mm after 28 weeks.
An enlarged kidney, however, is not the same thing as pyelectaiss which is tehnically an enlarged renal pelvis (and a normal kidney size). If the kidney itself is enlarged that is a different issue. ↑ |
| Name: MiMi | Date: Mar 17th, 2006 12:45 PM |
Hi I have a daughter that is 8 1/2 mos pregnant with a baby boy. So far the pregnancy ha progressed pretty well. She has been sick and tired the entire time wth alot of kidney infections, but all else seemed fine. Yesterday she went for a routine sonogram and they found out the baby boy had pyelectasis in both kidneys. Also, the baby's head was measuring at 96% where as the body was only measuring at 50%. She had the test to rule out Down's Syndrome earlier and it was negative, but now there are new concerns this baby may have something more wrong with it. She was meausuring 2 to 3 weeks ahead of due date so the doctor thought she might be further ahead. Now they are saying the baby only weighs the right weight for the gestation age but she is still swollen huge. Does anyone have any kind of advice for us. We are freaking out. They are sending her to Chapel Hill for further testing next week.
Ty
A very concerned Mimi ↑ |
| Name: china | Date: Mar 17th, 2006 1:34 PM |
| Mimi. My baby also has pylectasis, and my doctor has told me that if it doesnt go away before birth, it usually does soon after. Very seldom does it require surgery. As for the baby's head, do big heads run in your family? When my first son was born he had a little body, and a head that was put in the 99th percentile because it was pretty big. He was absolutly fine, but big heads do run in my family. I had a big head as a baby also. I would just try to stay calm. THe down syndrome blood test is anywhere from 70 to 90 percent accurate, and she is so close to having the baby, extra stress is not the best thing for her right now. I know it is hard, I stress out all the time that my baby isnt ok, but that is what us moms do best. worry...worry...worry. Hope this helps, god bless. ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 17th, 2006 2:32 PM |
| Mimi - I am not trying to freak you out - but when you say she had the "test to rule out downs" are you referring to just the AFP/Triple Screen or to an amnio? A AFP/Triple screen can neither rule or confirm downs it can only indicated a lesser or greater chance. Do you know what the actual measurments of the diliation was? My high risk people indicated to me that if at 8 months the condition is still classfied as pyelectasis as opposed to the more serious hydrphrensis you are probably in good shape and that it will resolve itself after birth - with no need for treatment other then antibiotics "just to be safe". ↑ |
| Name: jackie | Date: Mar 17th, 2006 6:00 PM |
| just had a 19 week ultrasound today his bladder and kidney function is fine but they said his kidneys were bright? can anyone relate to this? ↑ |
| Name: Linda D | Date: Mar 17th, 2006 9:33 PM |
| Hi, I have posted earlier about my lil girl having 6mm kidneys at the 25-26 week mark. My question now is IF when I go for my next u/s the kidneys have indeed resolved themselves, meaning the dialiation goes away, does this lesson your risk of having Downs? Does anyone know? ↑ |
| Name: Jane | Date: Mar 19th, 2006 12:16 PM |
| My doctor told me that in DS babies, the large majority of the time the pyelectasis affects BOTH kidneys and it does not resolve itself. That does not mean that if this is the case your child WILL have DS, but it is a higher possibility. ↑ |
| Name: Kara | Date: Mar 20th, 2006 12:49 PM |
| Hi - i am writing to try to help ease a lot of your minds, as we were in the same situation as many of you, but now that we have our Beautiful baby girl, I wanted to share the good news and likelihood that things will work out the same for each of you. Just to summarize, they found a spot on our babies heart at the 20 week U/S, we had a Level II follow-up U/S, which showed the pyelectasis of the Left kidney - 6mm, and fortunately, the spot on the heart was gone. (We opted not to have the amnio, and my triple screen had come back as normal) At 32 weeks, the pyelectasis was found to be bilateral - 7mm Right and 8mm Left. At 38 weeks, the measurements were 8.2 right and 10.4 left. We met with a pediatric urologist and were extremely worried like all of you. Our baby was 2 full weeks overdue, but came out beautiful. They did an U/S on her at 48hours, and her Right kidney showed NO dilation, and the Left was only mild, so she is on an antibiotic and she will have a follow-up U/S in a month and internal scope if there is still any dilation. Long story short - the odds are still so very strongly in your favor that everything will be just fine. I am 31 years old, this is our second child, and now that she's here and healthy I just wanted you all to know that there is a light at the end of this long tunnel, so hang in there. My thoughts and prayers are still with you all - best wishes ↑ |
| Name: kristin | Date: Mar 20th, 2006 2:44 PM |
| kara-thankyou so much for letting us know your great news, conrats on your new baby!! My baby also has a spot on his heart, and mild pyelectasis. We did the triple screen blood test and everything came back normal. Its so great to hear stories like yours. I hope all is well with your new little girl and thanks again for letting us know the outcome :) ↑ |
| Name: Rita | Date: Mar 20th, 2006 3:30 PM |
| Kara - I'm so thrilled for you! Congrats on your baby girl! To everyone else, I have an update on my little guy, as well. He is now 12 weeks old and had a follow-up kidney x-ray today (he had a bladder x-ray and ultrasound at 4 weeks old. Bladder checked out fine). It was a little traumatic, because they had trouble with the iv needle, but the good news is, the kidney is functioning just fine, even though there is still moderate dilation. He'll stay on the antiobiotics a little longer, and in the fall he'll have another ultrasound. His urologist thinks he'll outgrow this without needing surgery, based on today's results, but of course, no promises. His doc plans to wait a good while before even thinking about surgery since the kidney is draining fine on its own. We were pretty happy with this news, even though the issue isn't resolved. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he won't ultimately need the surgery, but I'm keeping in mind the big picture that in the worst case, he has something fixable with a very routine surgery with great success rates. Spending all day at Children's and seeing some of those kids and what they're going through definitely gives you perspective. We went through so much constant worrying during my pregnancy that now, we just want to enjoy him and focus on what a blessing he is. ↑ |
| Name: Linda D | Date: Mar 20th, 2006 7:59 PM |
Thanks Kara for your update!!!!! I hope more Moms post their results, it sure does make you feel a little better!
BUT more importantly CONGRATS on your lil angel! We are having a girl too, and we are just so excited. Best of luck with her! ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 21st, 2006 9:19 AM |
Kara and Rita - Thanks for the updates - I love to hear positive outcomes!
I have my 28 week u/s Thursday morning so I will update after that. ↑ |
| Name: Kate | Date: Mar 22nd, 2006 11:05 AM |
| Hi ladies, just want to update you on my amnio test-its NEGATIVE!!! The doctor called me yesterday. I will have another u/s in a couple of weeks to check on my baby's kidney[right kidney was enlarged 5,7mm at 23 weeks]. This is just another prove that almost always dilated kidney are not the indication for DS or any other chromosomal abnormalities. Good luck to all of you! ↑ |
| Name: mancy | Date: Mar 22nd, 2006 4:06 PM |
| Well hello Ladies. I am 29 weeks pregnant, and found out at 20 weeks that my baby has mild pylectasis. Of course I freaked out, because when I did research on it, every article said that it was a soft marker for down syndrome. I went and took a triple screen, and it came out negative, but I didnt feel as relieved as I wanted too. So I decided to talk to a coulpe doctors to get there opinions on this matter. My doctor told me that He see's this potential problem (pylectasis) on a regular basis. He told me that he has patients every month that have had this found in there ultrasound. Most of the babies are boys, but some girls too. Another doctor in the office got in on the conversation, and said the same thing. Both said that this is such a soft marker for down syndrome, and that it usually resolves itself before or after birth. They both made the comment that not very often does it mean your baby has downs. There are other markers called hard markers that are a more reliable sign that there is a problem. I have yet to hear from someone on this site that had a downs baby after being told they had pylectasis. I know we will all worry about our babies until we can hold them and make sure everything is ok, but just be positive. the odds are in our favor, Especially if Pylectasis is the only "marker". ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 23rd, 2006 11:19 AM |
Well - had my 28 week u/s this morning and both kidneys show dilation of 5.5mm - but my perinatologist says that in the 3rd trimester they use of cut-off of 7mm for further follow-up - so they released me and just told me to follow-up with my peditrician. So I talked to my pediatrician (who had been my peditrician for years - I have a 3 1/2 year old so I really trust him) and he was just like yeah - not big deal - we will do an u/s of the babies kidneys after it is born and only if that shows something will we even bother with a urologist. His attitude is there is no reason not to at least do an u/s of the babies kidneys since it is painless and riskless - I agree with that!!
Needless to day I am feeling much better about everything - since with a 3rd trimester dilation under 7mm the risk of the baby needing surgery is almost zero (according to my perinatolgist)...yeah! ↑ |
| Name: Kenya | Date: Mar 25th, 2006 9:07 AM |
Michele, Hi my name is Kenya. I am between 24-26 weeks pregnant and the doctor hasn't said anything to me about an abnormal blockage or fluid in the kidney. He has told me that he has seen a bright spot in my son's heart. It has appeared in the ultrasound two times. He told me that it is commonly see by pregnant women, but most of the time it doesn't mean anything. I am scheduled to go for another ultrasound at the hospital. The doctor says that he is healthy and normal size and the heartbeats are normal. He moves a whole lot down in my pelvic area. I pray and hope that everything is okay. I don't think I am going to let everyone's reading and experience upset me. If my baby has Downs, then I will accept the baby for what he is. Remember, this is still God's child. Don't get me wrong I've thought about the pro's and con's of the my chances having a baby with down's. But I can't let it bring me down. The doctor hasn't said anything about Downs yet. But that is what I thought when I first found out my son had a bright spot in his heart. I guess I will surely find out after Tuesday of what my chances are. Michele, I pray that your son's blockage in your kidney goes away. Don't get worried and upset, think positive. Life's not over. I have a 7 year old daughter to take care of that is perfectly healthy and I can't stay worried or depressed. It's not good for my body or the baby. I have to think positive and have laughter.
God Bless ↑ |
| Name: claire | Date: Mar 27th, 2006 6:58 AM |
hi
i have experience in this as 2 of my 4 children have dilation of the kidneys. my 5 year olds is slightly blocked and drains slowly and she has to take a daily antibiotic to prevent uti's and have regular nuclear scans to keep an eye on her and we have been told she will grow out of it as she gets older. my 14 week old son had a total blockage which was diagnosed thru my 20 week scan and then follow up scans after he was born and he has just undergone surgery, called a pyeloplasty to repair it. it sounds horriific to a parent i know, but even if this turns out to be the case with your baby it really isn't as traumatic as i thought it would be. please feel free to contact me if i can help in any way. claireakhurst@msn.com ↑ |
| Name: Kelly | Date: Mar 29th, 2006 10:43 AM |
My son was diagnosed with pyelectasis (hydronephrosis) when I was pregnant as well. Pyelectasis is the swelling of a specific part of the kidney called the renal pelvis. Hydronephrosis covers the swelling of ALL parts of the kidney so the two are very similar and are usually interchanged.
I was followed very closely in my pregnancy to make sure that my amniotic fluid levels were sufficient. At 40weeks 1 day, I was induced because my amniotic fluid levels had dropped enough to make it dangerous for my son to remain. I had a normal labor experience and my son arrived happy and healthy. Well...maybe not so happy!
He went for an ultrasound on his own at 2 days old and the pyelectasis had not resolved. We were referred to a urologist and put on antibiotics to prevent any urinary tract infections We saw the urologist when my son was 6 weeks old. We had to go through some tests to rule out reflux and a blockage in the ureter. I'll admit that it was very difficult to go through those tests as a new parent, but honestly, the early tests were harder on us than they were on my son. Both of those tests came back negative for us, but it didn't negate our worry.
We continued to see the urologist every 3 months for my son's first year. The hydronephrosis continued to get worse and had not resolved as of his 9 month visit. We were preparing for surgery when we had his 12 month visit.
Surprisingly, the hydronephrosis was gone! The doctor explained that sometime during his development in utero, the ureter must have kinked like a hose and it took a full year for the ureter to "unkink" and the fluid to drain from the affected kidney.
We are now a happy and very active 18month old.
If you have other questions, feel free to email me at:
illyria20@verizon.net
Anything I can answer, I will. ↑ |
| Name: Ann | Date: Mar 29th, 2006 2:08 PM |
| Hi Kelly - Thanks for the info. Do you happen to remember how severe the dilation was before the baby was born...like do you remember how many mm dilation they were finding at what stage? ↑ |
| Name: Katie | Date: Mar 30th, 2006 6:24 AM |
| We just had our 20 week ultrasound. I am having a boy and a girl my daughter has a dialated kidney. My doctor said this is normal but I am worried.If anyone else had any experience with this please let me know.Thanks. ↑ |
| Name: Rita | Date: Mar 30th, 2006 7:24 AM |
Kelly - Thanks so much for posting your info. It's so nice to know that this can resolve at any point. My little guy just had his renal scan (he's 12 weeks), and I agree, it was awful, but he got over it quicker than we did. He doesn't have to go back for another ultrasound until he's 9 months.
Ann, you'd asked Kelly what size the dilation was, so I thought I'd let you know, at my 31 week ultrasound, my little guy's was up to 12 mm. It was actually fluctuating during the 20 minute ultrasound (from 8-12 mm.), so I think sometimes the numbers can be a little hazy. But even at 12 mm., they were still calling it a moderate case, and it's already improved (the urologist said it's borerline mild to moderate and said he'd be very surprised if it got worse). ↑ |
| Name: tammy | Date: Mar 30th, 2006 12:00 PM |
| I have 3 boys. During my first pregnancy a white spot was discovered on my baby's heart at the 20 wk ultrasound. I was told about the Down's risk and chose to wait it out. After many months of worry, our son was born healthy and is now 8 years old. During my last pregnancy an enlarged kidney was discovered during our 20 wk ultrasound. We were naturally very worried and freaked ourselves out with internet research. At the time of his birth, our son had one functioning kidney. He is doing great and never needed the other kidney removed. He is high on the growth charts and his kidney has been functioning wonderfully. Our nephralogist has told us that there are many people walking out there with one kidney and are not aware of it. These people go on to lead very heathy lives. My point is, I understand the worry. The good news is most of these ultrasound findings turn out just fine Good luck to you all. ↑ |
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