Echogenic Bowel?

[Blueskydreams]

Hi, I posted this in first tri as well. Hoping to reach more people here =).

I'm trying so hard not to worry about this. My midwife just called to say the high risk doctor that looked at my 12 week sonogram saw an echogenic bowel. This means the bowel appeared white like bones and it could be a soft marker for downs, cystic fibrosis and a couple other genetic issues. It can also occur if the baby has swolled some blood. Is anyone else going through this or have a personal experience they would like to share?

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi love, I'm a sonographer. You are right that this is a soft sign for downs etc but seen in isolation alone, without a thickened NT measurement and abnormal bloods is normally ok. They only swallow blood if you have had an amniocentesis or an injury to cause blood in the fluid. Did you come back high risk from these tests?

I would try not to worry at the moment as this is likely nothing. Just follow the obstetrician and midwife advice. If may resolve by your 20 week scan hopefully.
Good luck xxxxx

 

[Blueskydreams]

Hi, thank you for the reply =). We were planning to do the blood work at our 16 week checkup for Downs, Trisomy and Cystic Fibrosis. We decided not to do the NT for a couple reasons. I didn't want any unnecessary worry. And also, I was told finding the nuchal cord could significantly lengthen the scan time/exposure and I wanted the shortest scan possible. When looking into echogenic bowel online I only see women 19+ weeks talking about the bright white scare. I read about 12 stories and all of them had healthy babies. I am kind of curious why they are pointing this out so early? Is it really a marker at this stage? Another thing I noticed when searching google images for "11 week scan" or 12 week scan", etc... I see many scans that look just like mine. After following their link, I see that they had a perfectly healthy baby. Maybe it's just the angle of the transducer or the settings on the machine? I'm beginning to think this is a common occurrence. Thanks again for your thoughts and expertise! I would be happy to post my scan picture if you want to take a look.

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi, thank you for the reply =). We were planning to do the blood work at our 16 week checkup for Downs, Trisomy and Cystic Fibrosis. We decided not to do the NT for a couple reasons. I didn't want any unnecessary worry. And also, I was told finding the nuchal cord could significantly lengthen the scan time/exposure and I wanted the shortest scan possible. When looking into echogenic bowel online I only see women 19+ weeks talking about the bright white scare. I read about 12 stories and all of them had healthy babies. I am kind of curious why they are pointing this out so early? Is it really a marker at this stage? Another thing I noticed when searching google images for "11 week scan" or 12 week scan", etc... I see many scans that look just like mine. After following their link, I see that they had a perfectly healthy baby. Maybe it's just the angle of the transducer or the settings on the machine? I'm beginning to think this is a common occurrence. Thanks again for your thoughts and expertise! I would be happy to post my scan picture if you want to take a look.

No problems love. Yeah if you can post the pic it would be helpful. Yes it might be that it just stood out a little to the sonographer and it also could be the angle of the transducer. It is more of a worry if it is really bright at the 20 week scan. I'm sure they are just being over cautious. I wouldn't say I have commonly seen TRUE echogenic bowel at 12 weeks.

 

[Laylagirl]

When i was pregnant with my youngest, i tested positive for heterozygous cystic fibrosis gene.... We were told that if there was a brightly lit poop on the ultra sound that it could be a sign for mutation and she could be born with it. But we were also told that the chances were in the very low percentage. Are you opposed to an amniocentesis? I did not go through with the amnio. I was already about 20 weeks and knew i wouldn't terminate the pregnancy at that point either. So we just tested my husband to be safe. He came back negative for about 30 common mutations and left it at that. My daughter is two years old now and perfectly healthy. Your baby is perfectly baking and will be who he or she will be..... Im hoping for the best to yiur family. Try not to worry. Hugs..

 

[Blueskydreams]

Hi, I think I uploaded the picture...

 

[Blueskydreams]

Hi Laylagirl,

Thank you for the kind words =). It's great to hear positive personal stories. I am against the amnio because of the risk of miscarriage. We also decided that we would not terminate the pregnancy. My husband does want to know as much as possible, however, for preparation purposes. Really hoping all is well.

 

[Kezzybear]

Hi, I think I uploaded the picture...

Hi love, I admit that bubs bowel does appear echogenic. Which as we said before can mean a myriad of things. There are other options to try to figure out what's going on if you don't want an amnio. You could try the "harmony" or " verify" blood tests. This can help rule out trisomies and other aneuploidies. Or if you are worried about cystic fibrosis, I believe that both parents have to be carriers (this does not mean affected) of cystic fibrosis so you both could have genetic testing. Although these options might be expensive.
Otherwise, if you are not planning on a termination, I would wait until you have had your 2o week scan and see if the bowl resolves(which it very well might) or to see if other soft or hard markers appear. Most significant abnormalities would be seen at the 20 week scan. Then they could counsel you on the findings once they are more concrete, coz as of now, it's only one small thing which could mean nothing.

I hope this helps love. Anything else let me know xxxx

 

[lovenoel]

Our LO had an echogenic bowel at our anatomy scan (18+5). He also had a slightly thickened nuchal fold, so we opted for the MaterniT21 test, which came back normal. We're content with that and opted not to do amnio. At 20+5, a different sonographer took a look and said it appeared that the bowel was resolving on its own.

 

[Blueskydreams]

Hi lovenoel,

That's great! Thanks for sharing. I will have my blood done in about 3 weeks.