dilated renal pelvis

[edodgy]

Hi, I had my 20 week scan today and have been told that the baby has a dilated right kidney of 6.4mm they said this could be an indicator of chromosomal disorders (i have no idea which ones) and that i have to have detailed scan next Tuesday and then possibly an amnio. I dont know what to do with myself i cant think about anything else and am fearing the worst i have had more than my fair share of loss in my life and this has tipped me over the edge i feel like i want to go to sleep and not wake up but know my 2 yearcold dd needs me. Has anybody ever had this problem and had a good outcome and can anyone explain it to me as i dont feel like i truly understand what's going on.

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ooo hun i wondered why i hadnt heard from u huge hugs to u.. u know where i am if u need me.

DS2 had this at a 37 week growth scan (couldn't tell you the size) no one mentioned chromosonal disorders and said that it was probably fine but he'd be given anitibiotics at birth in case it was an infection and would be rescanned at 4 weeks. He was fine.

edodgy, yes, we have been through it too. At my 20-wk scan, we were told the baby had dilated renal pelvis and another 'soft marker' for chromosomal abnormalities. It was such a frightening time. We went for amnio, baby was given all-clear, and is now fit, healthy and 5.5 mths. He was given a course of antibiotics after birth and had 2 scans which suggested the problem was not serious, and he will be rescanned around a year.
Dilated renal pelvis is actually quite common, I think 1 in 100 babies has it, and in the vast majority of cases it resolves during pg or can be treated easily after birth. If untreated, the baby may be subject to UTIs.

We had this too, on both sides for my DS...I refused the amnio, they tend to think Downs syndrome when any organ is bigger than it should be, but it's quite rare to find a swollen kidney as the only marker for Downs.

DS was quite a rare case in that they got worse and not better, I was induced at 37/38 weeks (differs depending who you ask!) and he was kept at a children's hospital for tests for a week, he had an operation at 5 months and is now healthy and happy, just under observation. And that's pretty much a worse case scenario...

I'm pregnant again (25 weeks) and again the renal pelves are dilated, although there is no apparent hereditory thing going on, so we're in the same boat!

What they are likely to tell you is that (if it is anything and it most likely isn't!) the most probable cause is a kink or a blockage in the ureter (the tube to the kidney) or reflux, this is where the valves that pump the liquid into or from the kidney/kidneys are facing the wrong way therefore some gets stuck... these things are fixable!

I just want you to know that the worst case scenarios don't have to be as bad as you think xxx

Sorry about my spelling, it's too late for MNing!

Just to add before I go off to bed bakedpotato is totally right the most common outcome for this is that it will disappear before/during/shortly after the birth..

At the moment the hospital do not know if the kidney complaint is related to chromosonal disorder or not.

My friends baby was born with the right kidney missing and a very enlarged left kidney - she is now 6 months old and the very picture of health.She has regular health checks but all seems well - strangly thay scanned my freind and found she has never had a right kidney -but did not know! Try not to worry until you know exactly whats happened.

One of my boys had this too. Like soupdragon, we weren't told that chromosomal abnormalities were a possibility and he is just fine. We continued to have it monitored during the pregnancy and my son was scanned a couple of times and monitored by a very lovely renal specialist before being discharged at about six months old. I do think it's quite common. I remember being beside myself with worry for a while though so lots and lots of sympathy to you. Another mum on mumsnet had the same thing and we talked about it in lots more detail here . Might be worth a look? Take care.

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Meggy DS's were 11 and 12.5 mm! Beat that (And he's fine now!)

E
just thinking does the fact that ur blood results came back clear not reduce risk of being chromosomal disorder????? I would have thought something would have shown up.

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Thank you everyone for your messages, i do feel slightly more reassured now i just wish they'd sat me down in the hospital and explained everything clearly. Nemo the blood tests they took only check for spina bifda and downs its only the amnio that tests for other disorders, the really scarey ones. Anyway i guess i'll just wait till next tuesday and go from there.

They tend to do the sitting down bit after the detailed scan... they love 'two week waits' leaving you in limbo... get them to do the scan before you have an amnio, as the scan might completely reassure you!

No time to read whole thread, but DS1 had dilated renal pelvis, had lots of extra ultrasound scans, very stressful (complete empathy) but everything very fine (consultant pronounced DS1's odd kidneys a "normal asymetry"). Now a wonderful "normal" 5yo boy. hth.

Edodgy hunny

You know who I am and I just wanted to send you a big hus from me to you and your family.

get in touch soon if your up to it, you don't have to go through this on your own.

Jen
xxx

hi hun tried to phone u a couple of times..in cse ur wondering whose the mobby is. Wondered if u wanted to go for picnic in park on thurs to try n get out instead of sitting in worrying hun. Take care
xxxxxxxxxxx

I know its really hrad to worry but I was told the same and alice is fine. I was offered amniocentesis to see if the problem was related to downs syndrome, but I declined. My midwife did say that as there seemed no other abnormalities, downs was unlikely.

What I was more concerned about was the fact that they recommend prophylactic antibiotics from birth to five years in case the baby develops a urine infection, scans later on in pregnancy said the kidney was polycstic as well but the cysts often shrink until they dispaear altogetherand this is what hapened in my case. Scans since she was born have been reassuring too.

Thankyou all for your reassuring messages ive also been doing quite alot of research on this myself and as most of you have said it is reasonably common and very unlikely on its own to be a sign of a chromosomal disorder. Anyway ive managed to get an appointment with the consultant on Monday the day before i have my detailed scan on Tuesday. What im most angry about is that on Monday i was simply told that it could be a sign of many chromosomal disorders or that it wont be this wasnt very helpful at all, and when i asked the registrar (i was meant to be seeing a consultant but they were short staffed) what these chromosomal disorders were she threw a load of numbers at me like i knew what all the trisomy numbers were, she also kept going on about having an amnio which i now know may not be necessary at all depending on the detailed scan (my previous scan showed that there were no other anomolies apart from right kidney dilation). Am also annoyed because they only told me at 20 weeks that my 15 week blood tests showed that i had thrombophelia and should be taking low dose aspirn everyday, I know the results came back after 10 days so surely i should have been informed of this sooner. Anyway i'll be bringing these issues up with consultant on Monday and am hoping for a positive out come on Tuesday. Thanks again for your messages.
Nemo , Im on messenger at the moment if you still want to do something today.

Hi, My 10 week old daughter has dilated renal pelvis possibly caused by a reflux problem. She is on antibiotics to prevent infection but other that that she is a prefectly normal and healthy baby. My consultant told me when I was preganant ( I found out about the condition at 34 weeks into my pregnancy) that it was unlikely to be a chromosonal problem as only her right kidney was effected- a similar problem to your baby's. Erin had a scan at 3 days old and unfortunaltely still had the problem but appartently many babies grow out of it before birth. I ruined the finaly few weeks of being pregnant as I was so worried when in fact it is a fairly common problem. I completely understand your worry and concern.My thought are with you good luck.