Bilateral renal dilatation at 21 weeks - anyone have any experience of this?

[Caitni]

I've just had my anomaly scan - I'm 21 weeks today. Everything looked normal except for bilateral renal dilatation.

We were told it's mild - on the left kidney it's 5.1mm and on the right kidney it's 5.7mm. Our hospital currently refer anything over 5mm for a further scan at 34 weeks but they're in the process of changing to 7mm, so if I'd had the scan in two weeks I'd be considered fine!

The sonographer explained that chances are it'll be resolved by 34 weeks, but that even if it hasn't then it would involve a scan of the baby after birth, and if necessary antibiotics or minor surgery.

I'm not worried (much!) but am curious about this and would love to hear if anyone else has any experience of it. I've already googled that it can be a soft marker for Down's, but our Down's risk came out at 1/8000 based on bloods and nuchal fold test, so I'm not worried about that.

TIA

Bump (hoping someone else has had this!)

Hi, I'm not completely sure if what we had is the same, but here goes: DD2 was identified at 20 weeks as having a swollen 'tube' (I'm sure they gave the medical jargon at the time!). We were told something similar to you, in that it could be something that would be resolved by itself or it could stay as it was/get worse in which case it would need to be looked into. The problem did persist and she was scanned after birth which identified her as having a duplex kidney. Basically, one kidney was normal, the other was split into two parts. One part was fine but the other part wasn't and was infecting the tube, hence the swelling of the tube. She was put onto antibiotics at birth and monitored by the consultant in case she had any breakthough infections. Luckily, she didn't so they were able to wait until she was 2.5 at which point they operated to remove the smaller section of the kidney that was causing the problems. Apparently, if it was left in place then it had the potential to damage the remainder of that kidney and, long-term, could cause problems such as high blood pressure, etc.. 2.5 was what the consultant identified as the ideal age to operate as she was a nice chunky size but not old enough to risk the kidney being damaged. After the operation she stayed on antibiotics for a few months and then stopped. She now sees the consultant once a year (now aged 4), although obviously would see him sooner if she had repeated UTIs (which, thankfully, she hasn't).

You'll have to excuse my complete lack of medical understanding but I hope that gives you enough of an idea for you to assess whether it's something similar to the condition that your baby has been identified with. Obviously, we were worried and the prospect of surgery was very unpleasant, but I can say with all honesty that she coped with it extremely well, bounced back very quickly and has always been the healthiest child you could imagine. She's as tough as old boots and took it all in her stride. Apparently, the remainder of the faulty kidney works at close to 'full power' so should be plenty for her needs.

As an aside, I also have a friend who had something similar picked up in her pregnancy. It was monitored and resolved itself before birth so needed no further action. I really hope that the same is true for you but if not then I hope you have as positive an experience as we had. Having been through what we went through I would not be overly worried if we had to face the same situation again.

Please do let me know if anything is unclear (I'm typing whilst cooking dinner but wanted to rattle it off quickly when I saw your post).

Very best wishes for a good result.

Hi Prinpo

Thanks for your response. I'm glad that things have worked out so well with your DD .

It does sound similar and the outcome did sound similar to how the doctor said it would play out.

Good to hear about your friend too .

I'm trying to see it as a Good Thing for the moment, as it means I'll get another scan at 34 weeks (any excuse to see the baby!). Am hoping it resolves itself by 34 weeks...

Caitni

My DD had a duplex like prinpo's dd. Found out at 20 weeks pregnant, scans every 3 weeks.
At 5 days DD had a scan and put on anti biotics. 2 x 1 week long stays in hospital between 11mths and 1.3 for infections. Operation at 18mths (keyhole) to remove upper part of duplex.
No UTI's, annual scans(had one last week) and consultant apps and she is fine and proud of her scar.

Biggest issue I found was lack of info between 20 weeks and giving birth. Everyone wishy washy and felt totally uninformed. Was also told it was a mostly male problem but prinpo and I have shown it is not!!

Did not affect giving birth and most midwives not even sure what it was.

Specialists not in every hospital and only very big hospitals do the surgery. DD's consultant fab and couldn't believe I had had so little info during pregnancy!!

Hard not to worry but no one ever mentioned DS markers!

By the way insist on consultants scanning you not sonographers as they can not give you the info you will need.

Thanks for your response DITDOT and also glad to hear that things worked out in the end with your daughter.

I've done a bit more googling (amazing what textbooks you can read via google books ) and I don't think it's a duplex issue. After much googling last night (including a proper search of MN talk, so seeing some earlier posts from your Ditdot) myself and my DH have decided to just wait until the follow up scan at 34 weeks and see what happens. We're lucky to be at one of London's major teaching hospitals, so they're equipped to handle most issues (a big part of the reason we chose it).

One of my main concerns is that I'm planning a home birth, but it doesn't seem that this would effect delivery if it doesn't clear up since the antibiotics and scans don't take place immediately upon delivery.

My ds1 had this. I was scanned at 30 weeks and it had gone back to normal. They also scanned him at six weeks old and everything was fine.

apparently its more common in boys.

Thanks Ledodgy - glad to hear your DS1 was fine.

And yes, I've seen it's apparently more common in boys (though as DitDot says her and prinpo show it effects girls too!). We haven't found out the sex, on purpose, yet here I am thinking "hmmm, more common in boys...hmmm, does the heartbeat sound more like a train..." .