20 Week Ultrasound

Hi girls,

I was just wondering if any of you girls had experienced 'markers' or 'points' once you had your 20 week scan. I had mine and all the results came back ok but when I went to see my Ob for my next visit he told me it showed up that the baby had an 'echo' in the left ventricle which can be a marker for down syndrome although they need 4 markers or points to test with the amnio. He said 4% of babies have this and not to be worried as my chances of downs is still the same as it was before for my age ( Iam 29). I have since researched on the net a bit and it is also called 'golf balls' of the heart or the technical name is echogenic foci or focus. Was just wondering if anyone can give me any advice as I am quite concerned even though my Ob told me not to be and that he was only telling me in passing.

Thanks
Love Katie

Same, I have not heard it... I have heard of holes in the heart which are usually operable and all turn ou fine, but not this.

As Em said, I hope and am sure that all will be fine with bubs...

Mel

When I had my ultrasound, the girl was fine, but the boy had a choroid plexus cyst which is in the brain, and occurs in up to 4% in babies. We did research on the net and found out the same thing as you, that it can be a marker for downs syndrome, but as all his fetal measurements came back NAD, my OB isn't worried. If your OB had had any concerns at all, he would have sent you off for a 'target scan', which is a much more detailed scan of the area of concern.
As he hasn't, I would take his advice and not worry as it sounds like it is very unlikely that anything is wrong with your baby.

Katie - Try not to worry! Lily had this. They found an ecogenic focus in the left ventrical at 19 weeks. She also had a 2 vessel cord, so the risk for downs was a bit high, 1:500 and i was only 18. I had a specialist scan at 21 weeks. Even before the scan, she said it shouldn't be a problem and they are probably just covering their backs. After she said i didn't need an amnio but could have had one if i wanted, i didn't. The adjusted risk was 1:3000 which at the age of 18 is pretty high, but not high enough to be that much of a problem. As you know, she is perfectly healthy. They can also mistake this for a calcium depost, as they look alike.

Thanks so much girls for all your warm words!!!

I am not stressing so much as I have come across some other forums from USA based on this same topic.

Tegan, thank you for your post, it is reassuring to know someone else has gone through this as well. All my friends u/s have come back fine and they have had no markers/points so I can't really talk to them as they don't understand.

thanks again
love

We too had the choroid plexus cysts. We were told it was a "common abnormality"....
I had a terrible 5 weeks waiting to see if they'd gone, and was told after I'd worried about nothing, but wiht technology these days they see far too much, and legally have to tell you about it to protect themselves. It made me decided that if we had another, I wouldn't be getting scans. Im sure all will be well, try not to worry, easier said than done xo

When I was preg with my first son he had a marker in his heart and they said all these things to me like you can have more tests, and you have 1 in 1500 chance to have a baby with down syndrome. I was very worried and was crying for days. When i went to have him all the doctors said thats nothing if its only one. They only have to tell you to cover them. Obvioulsy they can't say that they baby is going to be fine but it is a small chance so try not to stress out too much.