kidney problem showed up in scan - anyone else had this?

[redheadmum]

at my20 week scan they spotted that the kidney was dilated, so I had to go for a re-scan at 32 weeks. Now they are saying that both kidneys are dilated. However, function is normal. They are saying that it's a blockage, an infection or nothing!

I've been told that it's quite normal, and nothing to be worried about, but then have also been told I have to have a hospital birth because of it (I'd booked for home)

anyone know anything about this?

I had this with my ds. Everything was fine at 32 week scan for me and I didnt have to have a hospital birth. I think this is quite common from speaking to people when I was going through this. As I kept being told, there is nothing you can do so relax and enjoy being pregnant.

Bumping this for you for the evening crowd, rhm!

bumping you again rhm, I'm sure someone must have some advice!

thanks MML - its meant to be common surely there is someone out there????????

should it be in a different subject area?

Maybe 'health'?

My sister had a problem detected at her sons scan. His kidney was showing as slightly enlarged. She had to have regular scans to monitor it but it turned out to be nothing. I think it was the tube was a tiny bit larger than normal.

Is it dilated kidney or enlarged (dilated?) renal pelvis... My ds had the latter problem on his scan.. he was ok, but it's a soft marker for chromosone abnormalities, so scarey for us.

You know, Redhead, they can't "tell you" anything about where you give birth to your baby, they can only advise.

DS had dilated renal pelvis picked up at 20 wk scan. 1 in 100 babies has it (we were told) and in the vast majority of cases, the problem resolves by itself.

He was put on a course of preventative antibiotics from birth, just to make sure he didn't get a UTI if the problem continued. Had 2 scans when he was around 12 wks, and all seems fine. He will be rescanned at 12 mths just to make sure.

HTH.

another teeny bump for you rhm!

I have had the same. It was picked up at my 12 week scan, again at 20 week and so had another at 30 weeks. I had another scan at 32 weeks for another reason and the left kidney was still dilated but saw a consultant and he said it is nothing to worry about. When the baby is born, they will be scan at about 6 weeks old and give antibiotics as a precaution to prevent UTIs. Baby due on 5 June! All the sonographers have said it is fairly common and told me not to worry about it.

We had the same dilated renal pelvis, our case was very rare though and shocked the consultant post-birth as they both stayed dilated and needed operating on, apparently it's very rare for both to stay swollen and to need surgery in the way that DS's did.... I wouldn't worry too much, chances are it'll disappear during the birth process, best to be in hospital just in case though and even if surgery is needed (worst case scenario) our DS is absolutely fine and the op was very low risk.

and another bump for you rhm

Had this with ds one kidney appeared dilated during two ante natal scans
He was scanned aftr birth - no issues, and monitored for a year
No problems then or since
Good luck, I do know that a lot of the time it is nothing to worry about

final bump for rhm in case anyone else has anything to add!

please dont panic, i found out at the age of 21 that i had horseshoe kidney meaning i have 2 upside down kidneys which are stuck together and thge tubes come out of the top, one kidney isdilated, its usually a result of reflux, ie urine going back up the tube that connects to the kidneys, the term they used is hydronephritis. i live aperfectly normal life and am just more prone to kidney infections.they spot these on scans now whereas they didnt when my mum was preg, they will prob scan your baby when it is born and then again at 6 weeks, the most that will happen is tha t your baby may be slightly more prone to kidney infections and they may waant to investigate why the kidneys are dilated, ie if due to reflux, relax and enjoy your preg

iam due next tuesday and having a c setion .iam having a baby boy.i went for a scan last thursday and the lady told us that his kidney is dilated .so i was woried sick and very upset.but apprantley its quiet common in boys and thats its nothing 2 worry about .she sais once i have had him thay will give him a scan and give him antibiots 2 take .

I have such a positive story for you after exactly the same thing and worrying myself sick. Currently feeding perfectly healthy daughter, 10 wks, so will write properly if she ever finishes!!

Hi there, my daughter who is now 6 had the same thing when i had my 20 week scan. it just meant that when she was born till she was 3 years old she had to take trimethoprim to prevent her getting urine infections. she is ok now as its something that gets better on its own.

I have posted on this subject a few times and if you do a search am sure you will find them. My DD2 had this in her left kidney, found at 20 wk scan.
Took antibiotics from 5 days old. Did not clear up and had an operation to correct it at 18mths and loves her scar and is fine.
Know most cases do clear up on their own but ask for a scan by a consultant obstetrician and NOT a sonographer as they can not give you the nitty gritty answers you will want. Also for the scan of baby 5 days after birth ask for a consultant paediatric radiologist (doctor) not a radiographer. I am at a district hospital and we have both of these. I have got the answers I wanted by having specialist doctors rather than leaving without clear cut answers. Hope that makes sense. Sonographers are fine but they are not doctors and as a worried mum I needed a doctors reassurance.

i have also been told my baby has renal pelvic dilation on both kidneys! i just had my 32 week scan last week, thay are still both dilated, one has actually increased slightly in size, however ive been told its nothing to be concerned about and they will do tests when baby is born. i have also been speaking with people and it seems more common than i thought! it can also sort itself out before birth. if nothing else im glad its been picked up so early, so any necessary treatment can start as soon as baby is born .

I had the same with my ds now aged 10. At a 17 week scan they picked up that both his kidneys were dilated and he had what is called vesticouretal (I can never spell it properly) reflux which meant that the valves in the tubes leading from his kidneys to his bladder weren't working properly.

When he was born he had to go on a daily maintenance dose of antibioitcs for 3 years which didn't stop him from getting UTI's and he was hospitalised several times in 3 years (we found out he became immune to the antibiotics) and he had loads of investigations and a visit to Alder Hey as they were considering surgery as ds problem was moderate to severe.

He did eventually get better without surgery but it was horrible. My cousin had the same problem and my other 2 children were monitered closely too but they are all fine now.

It's quite common as others have said. Babies normally start a course of trimethoprim until they can have an ultrasound a few weeks after birth to see if there are still problems.

I would ask though what their rationale is behind 'needing' a hospital birth. AFAIK babies with dilated renal pelves are no more likely to have problems in the immediate neonatal period than and a possible compromise would be to bring baby into hospital within a few days to get the trimethoprim and see a paed. We did something similar after a home birth to do with another issue where we knew baby would need to be checked out within a day or so. Took a bit of persuasion but they managed to accommodate us in the end and we had it all arranged in advance of the birth.

My DS1 had this problem, in my opinion they were overcuatious and insisted on me being induced 10 days early just in case (despite not having had a scan for quite a while).

This led to an emergency CX under general anaesthetic as DS1 had foetal distress.

Of course it might have happened anyway but ther is a higher risk of complications after inductions...

DS1 was scanned at one day old... his kidneys were fine.

I wish I had been told these things usually go away by themselves, I would have resisted all the interventions, I missed the first few hours of DS1's life and i often feel our bond is not as strong as my bond with his brothers..
Good luck, it will be fine!

I'm pregnant with my first, and just got told at my 22 week scan that he's got a dilation on one kidney. The scan was done by an obstetrician, and she said it was absolutely nothing to worry about, but it may cause increased urinary infections when he is small. My gynae seems to feel it may close up before the birth, and also confirms it is nothing to worry about. I will now have an additional scan at 28 weeks to check the growth, and the baby will have to be checked after birth to see if it's still there. If it is, he will have to be seen by a specialist pediatrician and have regular progress checks. The obstetrician said that it usually clears up before baby is 2 years old.