Referral to Fetal Medicine after 20 week scan

[Toastedsesame]

Hoping for some reassurance, or anything really.

20 week scan today. Baby all perfect apart from when the sonographer came to check his heart. She spent about 15 minutes pressing really hard trying to get a good look, went and got a colleague to check too but neither of them could confirm that baby had normal heart function and both commented that it "looked a bit flat" they did say that it could be the position that baby was in (laying on his tummy the whole time, despite multiple star jumps) they have referred me to fetal medicine unit for a specialist opinion.

I am beside myself with worry. In my notes the sonographer has written "mitral valve not opening properly"

My referral has gone through already, I'm just waiting for an appointment sometime this week.

Has anyone experienced similar? Google is not my friend right now.

Bump

Ah love, what a worrying time for you and I'm sorry you haven't had any responses but hopefully this might help bump for you. Hopefully the little tinker was just lying funny and all will be fine, did you find out what you are having? I hope you get your appointment ASAP, they seem to be absolute miricale workers on babies so even if there is an issue at least it will have been found and a treatment plan can be put in place quickly. Keep us updated 😊

I haven't experienced this particular anomaly but my boy had an enlarged ventricle in his brain so we were referred to the fetal medicine specialist. They were absolutely lovely and they have specialist midwives too to talk you through everything afterwards as well. Their machines are much better than standard ultrasound ones and they have loads more experience too so they'll be able to find out what's going on. Best of luck xx

Thanks so much for your replies.

I am not very good at waiting on things. I have been up all night with various worries and been catastrophising. Im trying to keep calm today but in my head I was thinking after 20week scan I could start on the nursery and buying baby clothes and I've not been able to press on.

Hopefully everything will be ok as you say, I will update.

I was referred to fetal meds after my 20 week scan for a few problems. They are fantastic. They will talk to you in detail about everything and give you outcomes/choices. Easier said than done but try to rest and not worry, they will get you in as soon as possible. Good luck xx

I was referred for my DD at 20 weeks due to head being on 10th centile. Fetal med were fantastic, so thorough and ultimately not concerned.

No disrespect to sonographers but they tend to refer off to fetal med if they can’t get a good view and to err on the side of caution. Fetal med have better tools and are frankly more skilled to look into any concerns. And even if it’s something, more than likely there will be some type of treatment and or intervention that can be done xx

Thank you @Sleeplessem I am hoping it is just them being cautious, they did say it was but I like to worry myself it seems.

I have an appointment on Thursday morning.

Just wanted to update. We had our scan with the cardiologist at fetal medicine today. Baby has something called Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) which sometimes comes with chromosomal abnormalities, but sometimes causes no issues whatsoever. The fetal medicine team seem to think that our baby is having no issues with his heart due to the abnormality, and they have ruled out chromosomal abnormalities too. We will need a few more scans to monitor him as sometimes babies with PLSVC can get poorly after birth but overall its fairly good news compared to what could have been.

Great news - so glad you got some answers. X

Hi, can I ask what your outcome was please? My baby has just been diagnosed with this too and I am extremely worried and anxious with how to feel at the moment. X

Bump

Hi Gemma, my baby has been diagnosed with this after 20 week scan. I am waiting for my call back which feels terrifying. Please can I ask your outcome? Hope all is well x

@LilyCole @Garmendia1991 sorry for the very late reply - I've name changed since that post. My baby is 6 months old and he is absolutely fine. He basically has an extra tube in his heart that is redundant and not causing any issues. We had lots of extra scans after 20 weeks to check all ok and he was thoroughly scanned at birth and at 6 weeks and then discharged from cardiology. I wish you both good luck, fetal medicine were amazing for us.

Hey, thanks for your reply. I am so pleased to hear everything was ok with your baby. I have my appointment at 12.30 tomorrow - if it’s the bilateral SVC in isolation it sounds like it will be fine and even symptomless in life, I just naturally worry that they will find something else! Thanks so much again x

@LilyCole yes if it's that alone I believe it is simply seen as a variation of normal, up to 10% of the population have it. They were very interested in my screening results - do you have yours? They will be thorough, rest assured, if there is anything to worry about they will find it.

Thanks, yes the sonographer noted it as a “possible normal variant” in my notes. I have just since read it can be linked to cardiac and chromosome defects but need to stop Dr Google! They didn’t see any other anomalies on the scan. Do you mean the 12 week or 20 week results? My 12 week results came out as very low risk.

I have been referred to Fetal medicine because of dilated ventricles and can see you have also experienced this. I am worried and expecting the worse. May I ask what your experience of this was like?

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I have been referred to Fetal medicine because of dilated ventricles and can see you have also experienced this. I am worried and expecting the worse. May I ask what your experience of this was like?x

Hello, I've sent you a private message x