Echogenic bowel

[LittleDonkin]

Hi all I had a 16 week scan on Thursday as at my scan at 13+5 the sonographer said my baby had a slightly larger than normal nuchal fold (3mm) At this scan that I had with a specialist sonographer she said the baby has an Echogenic bowel and it is very white. She said this can be a soft marker for Cystic Fibrosis or Downs Syndrome or I could of had an infection or I could of had a small bleed in my uterus and the baby has inhaled blood. It just seems to me that because the baby has both a larger than normal nuchal fold and the Echogenic bowel that there must be something wrong. I am having the quadruple test the CF test and an infection screening at the hospital on Monday. Has anyone else had any experience of this???

I'm sorry, I don't have any experience of echogenic bowel but I have just had a quick look at the research. I've found the results of a study earlier this year, in case it's any help to you:

"Foetal dilated or echogenic bowel have been described as markers for a variety of conditions including bowel obstruction, chromosomal and infectious disorders and cystic fibrosis.

"A 5-year review was performed of the clinical course of infants with antenatally diagnosed isolated echogenic bowel and/or dilated bowel or intraabdominal echogenic foci presenting at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Western Australia.

"Abnormal antenatal findings were present in 35 foetuses. Twelve babies underwent surgery for intestinal atresia, meconium ileus and duplication cysts. Postoperative courses and outcomes were good.

"Echogenic bowel on antenatal ultrasound is a non-specific marker for a variety of disorders. Although associated with higher rates of foetal loss, the majority of neonates are normal at delivery. Bowel dilatation with or without echogenicity is often predictive of bowel obstruction requiring surgery. Surgical outcomes are, however, very good. Echogenic foci elsewhere in the abdomen have little postnatal significance."

Hope that's useful. Best of luck with the tests. x

A friend of mine had this picked up on at her 20 week scan and was told it was a marker for Cystic Fybrosis as well as other things.

Both her and DH had blood tests to see if they were CF carriers which came back negative. They then tested her blood for viruses which showed she had at some point had something called CMV, which apparently is a very common virus that many people will get and only causes a problem if you get it when pregnant.

She had another scan which still showed the bowel was bright and was referred to a consultant who advised that they considered an amniocentisis to find out for definate if the virus had passed to the baby.

She had the amnio that day and a week later got the all clear. A further scan showed the bowel now looked normal. It was a very stressful couple of weeks for them but everything has worked out fine.

Sorry for long post but just wanted to give an example of a positive ending when initially they were expecting the worst. HTH.

go back and get your bloods tested for CMV - depending on whether you might have been exposed to CMV depends on whether the child might be affected. there are things you can do to limit the damage if this is the case - look on yahoo and find the CMV group, there is details on there of people that have had stuff given whilst pregnant to help a child if they have been exposed.

i had an echogenic bowel confirmed with my son at 20 weeks - if it disappears it is not always the best result.

I hope this is not the case and i might be jumping the gun ..... good luck