Echogenic bowel

[LatoiyaLondon]

Waiting anxiously on results and to have some further testing as sonog found echogenic bowel on 20 week scan. She made a good point in that their technology is so good now that they pick this up more and more when they never used to, a lot of the time it's normal. I've seen a few posts recently floating round re echogenic bowel/heart/etc, so maybe this is why. I've avoided dr google as of course me and DP are exceptionally worried about the CF risk (mainly) - does anyone have any honest experience of this?

Yes. Ds2 had this at his 20 week scan. It was, as you say, terrifying. I did Google, and found lots and lots of people who had 20 week scans with white bowels and no problems. We also had no problems. He's a delightful, very healthy 4 year old now.

I had already had the Harmony test by the 20 week scan, so the team were happy to be able to rule out Downs etc. Then me and dh were tested for genetic issues and I was tested for infections like toxo. These were all clear. We had scans every 4 weeks at fetal medicine, and had a follow up scan after the 20 week scan with fetal medicine.

Everyone said what you've just said, that scans are better and they see it more. The white bowel eventually disappeared I think, but they still mentioned checking for his first poo. It was fine!

I was on blood thinners and they said it was possible he had swallowed some of my blood and that's what we could see.

@Mondaygap it's really terrifying. We aren't too sure what to think and concerned about how long they're leaving it for us to have blood tests etc but I guess they know what they're doing. I'm hoping it's just a normal soft marker that will be gone at the next scan. Fingers crossed for little one.

Glad to hear your son is doing well

Hello,

I will be 38w pregnant tomorrow, and our baby had echogenic bowel picked up on the 20w scan. We then had a scan with foetal medicine which confirmed the EB but found no other issues.

We had already had the screening tests for Downs, Edwards and Patau syndromes, and were given a low risk. We chose not to have amniocentesis as the risk of miscarriage was higher than the chance of having any of these syndromes. Btw, I'm not saying we would necessarily have considered a termination with any of our results - we just like to have as much information as possible.

I was tested for recent toxoplasma and cytomegalovirus infection - both negative. We were both screened for being cystic fibrosis carriers - negative for the types they screen for (which together cause 85% of CF cases, so you would BOTH need to carry a rare form for the baby to still have it).

Since then, we have had scans every 4w, checking foetal growth and uterine blood flow. All has been fine so far. The consultant has said it is most likely that the baby swallowed a little blood early on.

Obviously, until the baby is born, we can't be absolutely sure that everything is fine, but we do feel a lot more reassured than we did at the time of the 20w scan. I will try to remember to update this. All the best.

Hi @littlecabbage - congratulations and thank you for your response. Great that you had all of your results back and all looking okay!

What did the consultant say to you about it all?

No judgement from me if you were to think about termination. We have decided we would not carry on the pregnancy if it was CF, as we have a friend who has it and she chose actively not to have children due to the high risk of passing it on and how much pain she is in.

Wishing you all the very best

Thankyou LatoiyaLondon.

The consultant did say at the foetal medicine scan that over 90% of 20w scans with this issue produce normal babies, so that was reassuring at the time, but of course it is still at the back of your mind.

Congratulations to you also!

little well that's at least reassuring. Funny I was on here a few weeks ago worrying about maternity clothes and lack of sleep. I would happily forego sleep for the rest of my pregnancy just to ensure baby is ok!

I had the same experience as mondaygap exactly.
Lots of scans as I was having twins but quite a few in fetal medicine so be sure. I was worried like you but I think the experiences above and mine show that it’s a soft marker and mostly disappears.
Only one twin showed this.
All fine and they are 8 now.
Thinking of you and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

*to be sure

We had an echogenic bowel result at our 20 weeks scan.
Spent a few days on the phone to doctors who were very reassuring. Mostly saying that technology is so good nowadays that it picks up a lot more. Mine was only picked up as the sonographer I had was a locum so they spent time looking over her results.
We had growth scans every two weeks up until 36 weeks as IUGR was a risk. Was tested for toxoplasmosis etc - all clear.
I was talked out of having an amnio as our screening results were so low and the doctor advised that weighing up the risks there were more cons than pros to having it.
I'd also had some bleeding at around 8 weeks and it was suggested that he'd basically absorbed the bleed and that was showing in the bowel.
It was a worry but DS was fine, we read lots (possibly too much) and spoke to lots of people.

I am in the same position. 20 week scan picked up echogenic bowel. I was incredibly upset for the first 24 hours- now I've had a bit of a read and am in the headspace to think a bit more rationally. Waiting for CF blood test and TORCH/parvovirus screen, and an ultrasound scan by the consultant. I'm still really worried and scared- but trying to stay positive as odds are things are fine with baby.

My baby also had this, it was picked up on a 4d private scan I had at 28 weeks. After many more scans, some done by a consultant they decided it was likely that i had a small bleed and he may have swallowed some of the blood. I know how worrying it is though, I researched it constantly and was terrified he might have cf. It turned out he was fine though, he's 2 now and there is nothing wrong with him. The consultant doing one of the many scans I had did say that she thought the technology picked up everything and some people would worry a lot less if they had less scans, but who knows, I'm a worrier anyway!

I'm going through this currently and like @MySerenity I cried for an hour Monday evening because I convinced myself my baby would have CF. Had all the bloods and having an amnio tomorrow. Absolutely terrified but happy to share how it goes. Wishing everyone the best of luck. It really is a scary experience

Yes I remember now i had a small bleed at around 7 weeks and they said the same thing that it was because of that.
I didn’t understand why only one twin showed it but there you go.
I know it’s stressful. Hugs x

After speaking with the consultant I have decided against amnio for now. I am going for a NIPT blood test privately (the SAFE/IONA one is UK based and has good reliability). If that comes back positive for a trisomy I will have amnio though.

Still waiting for CF carrier screening test.

Feeling a lot more positive though. If all these tests come back negative I will just get on with things and enjoy the pregnancy and try not to worry. Other than having a few extra scans!

@PereyButton hope the amnio went ok. Fingers crossed for you.

Hi everyone,

I said that I would update.... so my beautiful, healthy baby son was born on Saturday. He is showing no signs of any health issues so far, passed his hearing check, and is feeding well and gaining weight.

I have asked re the echogenic bowel, and been told that no further tests are necessary given that he seems healthy. So hopefully for us, it really was just due to swallowing some blood in utero.

I hope you all have a similar outcome xx

Congratulations!

Hey @littlecabbage I know this is an old thread but wondered about the outcome.
My LO is 37 weeks and the bowel has not completely resolved. I’m not a CF carrier and am clear for TORCH tests. My partner and I are constantly terrified and can’t enjoy the pregnancy at all, it’s very tough

Sorry for bringing up the old
Post @BillyAndTheSillies but we’re in the exact same boat and at 38 weeks growth scans seem good the baby was 90th percentile and is now just below that but the bowel is still slightly echogenic and we are terrified. Did they find out what caused you little ones?

Hi @MariaSL, our son is still perfectly healthy (and nearly three years old). Hope that provides some reassurance.

Our child is totally healthy too. No issues at all at birth/newborn period and 2.5 years old now.
Wishing you all the best.

Thank you. Can’t stress how much this reassurance helps us at the moment, we don’t get any from the professionals of course so it’s great to get it from people in the same boat.

Did the bowel clear up on either of your scans @littlecabbage @BakedBeansBang or was it persistent throughout?

Sorry, I had changed username. Am also BBB above! I don’t recall whether the EB cleared up on later scans though, sorry. Wishing you all the best.

Hello, @MariaSL how did you get on.

21 weeks and currently in the same boat.

Hey, my son was born naturally with no conditions and is very healthy :) the echogenic bowel was visible right until before I was term. Hope that helps you xxx