Anomaly scan

[Thisriveriswild]

Hello all,

Just looking for a bit of reassurance really from people who have been in the same boat. Just had my anomaly scan and sonographer tells me everything is absolutely great, so we were obviously thrilled. However I had a look at the report when we left and it says that the cerebellum tr measurement is in the 5th percentile (it's 17.4mm at 19+3). Just wondering if anyone has been through anything similar to this?

Obviously I have tried to Google which has scared me to no end! And yes before anyone says anything, I know I should trust the professional telling me everything is fine but it's only natural to worry and I can't help it unfortunately.

Thanks a lot x

I haven’t been in the same situation, but I am in my first pregnancy and I understand that we’re all somewhat nervous about things.

Firstly, KNOW it’s easier said than done, but I think you should trust the sonographer and the hospital. They know what they’re doing, and have told you that everything is fine, and there are no concerns.

I don’t think it will help you to read a medical report that you’re unqualified to read, as it will likely worry you, and lead you down a Google rabbit hole. I also understand, because I’m a serious Googler!

From what I’ve seen, they only refer you to fetal medicine if your measurements are “significantly less than the 5th centile”, which yours are not.

I’m sure all trusts differ slightly, but I would take a professional medical examination as “great” to mean the same universally - nothing that they’re concerned about, and therefore nothing that you need to be overly concerned about.

www.nnuh.nhs.uk/publication/download/18-20-weeks-fetal-anomaly-scan-ao39-v7/

Around page 6

I had this!

And I did the same as you. Googled it, scared the life out of myself and was utterly distraught. I spoke to a midwife who basically told me 'don't worry about it, those measurements don't really mean anything' which my comeback was why take them then.

I ended up booking a private scan and the sonographer was brilliant. She explained that they were more concerned with the shape than the size at this point and alone a small cerebellum tr isn't anything to be concerned over they use it as a marker along with other measurements. My baby was 50th percentile for everything else so completely average.
She remeasured it a week after the original scan and it had jumped from 7th to 43rd.
She also showed me that the measurements are not that accurate and can often vary between sonographer.
I'm currently 37 weeks and baby has been measuring perfect at all her growth scans since.

Not quite as low, but at my first anomaly scan, baby's cerebellum was also on the lower side of the scale. Much lower centile wise than the rest of the baby anyway. At the repeat scan 2 weeks later (to try to get some measurements missed at the first), everything was much more in line with each other, and completely average/slightly bigger than average across the board. I was very lucky and got the same sonographer for both scans as well.

Even in utero, growth isn't at a constant rate. If caught just before a growth spurt, can make them seem much smaller than they actually are. Plus, as with all scans there is a fair margin of error anyway. Especially when talking about fractions of millimetres.

Thanks all for your replies. Google is the worst thing ever at times! I just saw the number and it looked so low panic completely set in and I couldn't help myself trying to look it up.

I'm just trying to keep in mind that they said everything is okay and they weren't concerned enough to send me for any other scans. I've started to calm down a bit now but if I still feel stressed about it in a few weeks I'll be tempted to book a private scan I think. Just to put my mind at ease. Never worried as much in my life as I have these like 19 weeks!

I think that people are given too much information at scans that are not understood !! Definitely just go with the information the sonographer gave you .

Yes you are probably right about that. If I had not been given the report I would have walked out of there very happy after he said everything was great!

Honestly anything from 3rd to 97th centile is considered the ‘normal range’, even outside that doesn’t necessarily indicate a pathology, just it’s a line in the sand for a closer look from someone a bit more ‘skilled’ than a sonographer- usually fetal med.

The sonographer will always refer there if there is a shred of doubt so the fact that they haven’t pretty much shows there’s no real concern, especially because all the other measurements are bigger, it’s probably just a duff measurement.