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re: Experience with Ultrasound Findings?

Posted on 2/26/15 at 12:42 pm to
Posted by HoustonTiger2008
Member since Feb 2015
631 posts
Posted on 2/26/15 at 12:42 pm to
quote:

healthy and a wild child

Very glad to hear that.

quote:

obviously this needs to be looked at frequently

Our OB actually told us they don't even bother looking at it anymore. She said it might go away before birth, might not, but structurally won't effect anything. They just call it a "soft" marker for genetic abnormalities which is what has been worrisome for us. They said the chances of anything being wrong is very very low as my wife is younger than 30 years old.

I appreciate you talking about it. Trying to put my mind at ease.
Posted by Chipand2Putts
trembling hills
Member since Apr 2012
1367 posts
Posted on 2/26/15 at 12:48 pm to
If part of a constellation of abnormal findings, more concerning. If an isolated finding on an otherwise normal scan, not very concerning at all. Typically should have a follow up scan later in the pregnancy.
Rest easy. No guarantees in pregnancy (just like life), but everything is likely fine.
Posted by ashy larry
Marcy Projects
Member since Mar 2010
5568 posts
Posted on 2/26/15 at 1:06 pm to
quote:

They just call it a "soft" marker for genetic abnormalities which is what has been worrisome for us. They said the chances of anything being wrong is very very low as my wife is younger than 30 years old.

I appreciate you talking about it. Trying to put my mind at ease.


I could tell you not to worry, but I know it won't do any good. But there are 2 key things to keep in mind with ultrasounds:
1) prenatal scans are designed to cast a wide net which results in a lot of false positives. basically their goal is look for anything and everything so it can be addressed as soon as possible IF necessary. This results in tons of people being scared shitless for no reason at all. I understand the necessity of this, but it doesn't make it any easier.
2) This may not apply to your situation, but ultrasonographer error is very common. There isn't really any licensing requirement to be an ultrasound technician to my knowledge. so unless a doctor or a very experienced tech is performing the ultrasound, there are often 'operator errors'.

I learned the above information first hand. During my wife's first pregnancy they found a marker for a chromosomal disorder in our child at the 20 week ultrasound. The ultrasound was performed on a Friday, and we were told the results immediately. We couldn't see a specialist for a second opinion until Monday at the earliest. This was a very long, tough weekend.

On the following Monday the specialist and his experienced ultrasonographer both ruled out any issues within minutes. The ultrasonographer showed my wife and I how the young girl performing the ultrasound a few days before screwed up. Apparently it's not that uncommon.

Our screening wasn't the "Echogenic Intracardiac Foci", but something they looked for at the same time. The shitty thing about all of this is the way the numbers can scare you. With the marker that was supposedly found we could have been 10 times more likely to have a kid with downs. Well, if my chances based on my wife's age, health, etc were 1 in 5,000 before the ultrasound, our chances now 'increased' to 1 in 500. I'll take those odds any day. You'd probably be very content If someone came to you before the pregnancy and said you'll have a 499 in 500 chance of having a healthy baby. But when a pregnant woman hears "you may be ten times more likely to have a child with a chromosomal disorder", it doesn't go over well.

tl;dr - had a similar result to a different test. baby was born healthy.
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