baby diagnosed with post urethral valves

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Hi, I'm 36 weeks pregnant with baby No2. At 31 weeks he was found (by ultrasound) to have enlarged bladder with evidence of backflow to the kidneys. We have been told that a simple Op after birth will get rid of valve, but have had the poop scared out of us by talk of kidney damage. Has anyone had this diagnosis, or know of anyone who has? Please share any stories as we are very concerned for the future. Thanks.

Ooops, that should be posterior urethral valves!!

My son has kidney reflux. He has been on ab's since birth. He has NEVER had a uti or kidney infection. I wouldn't worry too much. It is quite common I beleive! It depends what grade he has got as if they will operate. My son is grade 3 which is moderatly severe however they will wait a couple of years to see if to operate or not at most babies WILL grow out of it. Try not to worry too much, let me know if you need any more info.

Hi Haribosmum, thanks so much for your post. We have not been told the severity, maybe they have to wait unless he's out to assess it. If it is PUV (which they are fairly sure about) we have been told that they'll operate soon after birth, to get rid of the obstruction, then wait & see what happens with the kidneys. Also his bladder has a thick wall of muscle where it's been working hard to try & empty, don't know if that will cause probs later on - did your son have that? On ultrasound they can see that the bladder is partially emptying which is better than nothing I guess. On the last scan the dilation of his kidneys was 7-8mm on both - don't know how bad that is...? He was 35 weeks at that point, we have another scan on Thurs, then I guess they will decide whether or not to induce. Sorry to ramble on - any more info would be great! Thanks.

Should have said - I've changed my nickname!! Pregnancy has turned me into a numpty!

my friends son was diagnosed with this, they didn't realise until he was a few months old and his body had gone into failure due to the toxins.

Luckily they diagnosed in time. He had an operation to reverse the valves and they had to empty his bladder fully with a catheter 6 times a day. (I think it's down to 3 now he is in pants) He was on Ab's and still is I believe he;s now 3 1/2. They weren't sure if his kidneys were damaged and so far it doesn't look like they were. His bladder was also extremely misshappen and baggy and they weren't sure whether he would be continent but fortunately he does have control.

I don't know much about the condition, but it does seem fixable and you've caught it early.

Good luck for the future and hope things are OK

When my son was diagnosed I was still pregnant with him like you are with your baby. They weren't sure if he had kidney reflux or the thing with the valves (which is what you have been told - I was under the impression they couldn't make a definate diagnosis until after birth but anywhoo....)His kidneys wer 8mm dilated before birth. Once he was born he went straight on ab's to stop him getting any uti's or kidney infections (so far they are working and he is 1 in a couple of weeks). He had an ultrasound at about 4 weeks old to confirm his kidneys were still dilated. they were and were now 10mm dilated (quite common that the dilation increases after birth I was told and the kidneys are now working 'properly'). He had a MAG3 test at about 3 months old. This is where the stick a tube up into their bladder (more painful to watch than for the baby- my son didn't notice a thing) and then introduce some liquid and take x-rays to see what happens to the liquid (this is the one where they can diagnose a problem with valves or reflux). As far as I am aware they will usually leave the child for a year or 2 to see if they outgrow the problem - which is quite common. I assume they only operate at this age if the condition is causing problems. Anyway, we are just waiting for another ultrasound to find out if his reflux has got any better (his 1 yr check. I'm sure your baby will be fine - I was scared then I was first told there was something 'wrong' with the baby. But a bit of research reassured me that it was quite a common condition (especially in boys) and not usually indicative of any more serious problems.

Thanks again for your posts. So far we have been told that he will have a catheter in soon after birth, then 2-3 days later they will do the dye/liquid into the bladder to see where the obstruction is, followed soon after by the Op to get rid of it. That's the easy bit I guess because after that they will assess (somehow) what damage there has been to bladder & kidneys, but like you say I think that will take place over a longish period of time. Here's hoping for a happy ending - thanks again & if anyone else has experience of this sort of thing, would love to hear from you.