Scans have picked up an anomaly

[fanny75]

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about fetal pyelectasis? It appears that my little sprog has a slight dilation in both kidneys which the hospital is keeping an eye on. I'm 34-ish weeks and I've had 4 scans, with another one booked for next month so that they can monitor it. The scan ladies have said its not a severe dilation, and my doctor has said that everything's normal, but they just seem to want to keep an eye on it so they know if anything needs to be done after the birth.

I've had a look on the internet, but I can only really seem to find full on medical articles, so I was just wondering if anyone had had any experience/knowledge of it. Part of me is saying trust the doctor and the medical team as they know what they're talking about, but another part of me is wondering if its nothing to worry about, then why have they mentioned it. And another part of me is wondering if there is anything I can do to make the problem (if that's the right word) to go.

I'm in France, I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but my French is really not up to having an indepth conversation about what this is, or what it could mean to our sprog. Any advice/info would be very gratefully received.

Thanks

Hi. All 3 of my daughters have had varying degrees of renal pylectasis in utero, so I have unwittingly become a bit of an 'expert'! It's increasingly being seen as something that's a variation on the norm for many babies (according to my sonographer(s)), and will be seen in approx 3% of 20 week anomaly scans. If it's not seen in conjunction with any other 'problems' , the usual course (in the uk at least)of action is to rescan throughout pregnancy just to keep an eye on things, and then a few weeks after birth. This is done as pylectasis is usually caused by reflux, where a small amount of utrine 'back up' into the bladder. This can cause urine infections, which can in turn potentially cause scarring on the kidney. My dds were given antibiotics from birth, until the problem resolved itself at around 10 weeks. A scan will detect this, and also if there is a blockage which can occasionally be the cause of reflux but can be resolved with a simple op.
My dd (dd1 had moderate to severe reflux, 13mm at 35 weeks) in both kidneys, but all fine at 10 weeks. My dd2 just crept into the 'mild' category (4mm) and dd3 back up to moderate. Oddly (I thought) ds didn't have any pylectasis,(he got a choroid plexus cyst instead )on his 20 wek scan. I do remember the panic I felt with dd1 especially so can undertand your need for info'. Just shout if there's anything else!

Thanks kiki and thank you Diege! Having read that it's fairly common I kind of hoped that someone would know something about it. I guess I'll just stop worrying about what may be and we'll just have to wait and see. The sonographers say the bladder is emptying, so the kidneys are working, and apart from the larger dilation, everything else is normal, so I shall focus on that, and stop typing it into google and confusing myself. Thanks again ladies