Echogenic focus in the Left Ventricle

[Barbi]

Have had more concerning news today. My little lady has shown an echogenic focus in her left ventricle of her heart at her last ultrasound scan. I just received a phone call from my hospital that due to two markers having been recorded in relation to this pregnancy (first being my bloods having come back with increased risk for Down Syndrome at 1 in 26 chance) and now the echogenic focus at the 19 week scan, this brings my increased risk even higher, possibly at 1 in 13 for Down Syndrome. On Friday I will be seeing a specialist in relation to my options, but I really don't want an amnio which they are likely to recommend. I will also be scanned more frequently (every four weeks) starting with a scan which will be performed with the assistance of a fetal heart specialist to do an echo of her heart at 22 weeks gestation, and also a blood flow into the uterus test to ensure that she grows at a reasonable rate.

I am stressing to the max, which of course is not good for me or her, but still feel there is nothing to worry about. Has anyone else had any results such as this one? I could really use some guidance right about now as to what course you took in terms of tests.

 

[Kaites]

My dd didn't have the same problem with her heart (my dd had hydrops- fluid surrounding her heart and lungs) but a friend had a son with echogenic foci and he was totally fine- no DS despite all the worry throughout pregnancy.

With dd's problems, DS or Turner's syndromes were suspected and we did opt to have the amnio. Honestly, it wasn't that bad- I had some light cramping afterwards and spent the rest of the day with my feet up. It did give me peace of mind for the rest of our pregnancy though- everything came back fine chromosomally for our dd so that was one less thing to worry about. If it had come back with bad news, I think it would have still been a good decision to do the amnio because it might have allowed the doctors to be better prepared at birth and it would have also helped me and DH learn more about either DS or Turners before her birth and again, be more prepared to care for a baby with special needs.

I found it to be a positive experience, along with the genetic counselling we had beforehand so I'm biased Despite getting the all clear on the amnio, we still continued to have problems with the hydrops and trying to find the cause of it for the rest of our pregnancy, but at least we were able to rule out two major chromosomal problems.

Good luck with your decision

 

[Barbi]

My dd didn't have the same problem with her heart (my dd had hydrops- fluid surrounding her heart and lungs) but a friend had a son with echogenic foci and he was totally fine- no DS despite all the worry throughout pregnancy.

With dd's problems, DS or Turner's syndromes were suspected and we did opt to have the amnio. Honestly, it wasn't that bad- I had some light cramping afterwards and spent the rest of the day with my feet up. It did give me peace of mind for the rest of our pregnancy though- everything came back fine chromosomally for our dd so that was one less thing to worry about. If it had come back with bad news, I think it would have still been a good decision to do the amnio because it might have allowed the doctors to be better prepared at birth and it would have also helped me and DH learn more about either DS or Turners before her birth and again, be more prepared to care for a baby with special needs.


I found it to be a positive experience, along with the genetic counselling we had beforehand so I'm biased Despite getting the all clear on the amnio, we still continued to have problems with the hydrops and trying to find the cause of it for the rest of our pregnancy, but at least we were able to rule out two major chromosomal problems.

Good luck with your decision

Thanks Kaites, we have actually decided not to do the amnio, just like earlier. I am less likely to worry now I have decided for sure that I don't want to do the amnio because no matter what she will be with us and for that there is no need for me to worry about any of it. I will be closely monitored, including doing an extra morph scan in a few weeks time, as my dates have been all wrong from the beginning, I was only just 19 weeks yesterday and I had my first morph scan done on 15 April when it was way too early at that stage. Unfortunately that all came about because I have shared care with a GP and he progressively made appointments for me too early. Anyway, I will likely have the hospital monitor me from now on all the way to the end for consistency reasons at the very least. I truly don't believe there is anything to worry about, she is just fine in every other way, including having looked at the ultrasound scan pictures with the Registrar of my hospital yesterday and he pretty much said that all the results look really good, except for the ones mentioned, but those results are still just a possibility not a probability. Thanks for your support.