Choroid Plexus Cyst and Echogenic Cardiac Focus

[Vonn]

We recently had our 18 week anatomy scan done. We've been told the baby has a choroid plexus cyst on her brain and an echogenic cardiac focus on her heart. Each can be found in healthy babies (between 1-5% of the time), but each can also be a soft marker for different chromosomal abnormalities.

This news was upsetting, in part because it was such a surprise. We had a normal Innatal test result (more intensive first tri blood screening test...same as Harmony, Panorama, etc.) and we used donor eggs from a 24 yr old.

The only way to know if the baby has a problem is to do an amniocentesis, which of course carries its own risks. Just wondering if anyone has dealt with finding either of these markers & what you did. Thanks!

 

[Stacip]

At my 21 weeks scan, they found choroid plexus cysts on my little guys brain. Everything else was perfectly normal, and my previous genetic testing came back normal as well. I also used an egg from a 24 year old (mine haha).

I was referred to a geneticist, who said it's basically a none issue. My chances of T18 went from 1/16000 to 1/4000 or something like that. Significant increase, but not so bad in the rand scheme of things. She said that they would very likely disappear on their own, but that I didn't even qualify for another ultrasound (that's how not big of a deal it was). She said that 'maybe' if I had 2 soft markers, they would consider it, but even then, it's usually nothing.

I remember being completely wrecked from the time I got the news to my genetics appointment. It's usually nothing to worry about. She said she could probably scan the brain of 50 healthy adults, and some would have these in their brains and not even know it.

 

[cutestuff]

Hi there. I was 20 weeks with my dd when they found bilateral choriod plexus cysts... One on each side of her brain. Other than some high blood pressure everything else was fine so it was a huge shock. They told me the link and that I could either have an amino or wait till around 30-32 weeks and get another ultrasound. I did my research and found that for t18 which is the link for the cysts the issues are quite apparent and include missing limbs or organs. I decided to request the second ultrasound . my research suggested most cysts go away on their own somewhere around 30 weeks and so I was going to have the second ultrasound and wait to see if any other markers were found since amnios can cause issues and the risk of an amnio was greater than t18 I felt this a safer approach. The ultrasound showed the cysts had resolved and during my followup with another doctor in the practice I was told that even if the cysts were still there as long as they weren't bigger the doctor wasn't worried.
I am now a mom to an energetic completely normal active smart 16 month old. I would advise doing research the CDC website has a lot if facts and good statistics for all diagnosis but ultimately you have to make a decision based on you and your feelings. Feel free to pm me if you have more questions

 

[Koifish]

One of my twin boys had both of those on a 20+week scan. He was born with the cyst and is fine and the calcium deposit on the heart went away after birth. He did have a genetic issue of trachea esophageal fistula, however it is unrelated. My harmony test came back low risk on both. I was told by my perinatal that the cyst and calcium deposit wasn't a big deal and unless they had 5 or more markers it likely means nothing. Hope that helps!