2nd Trimester
Downs soft marker on ultrasound?
Hi Ladies,
Had my 20 week ultrasound on Friday. Dr. came in afterwards and said there was a 'white spot' on the ultrasound on the baby's heart. Said that it was probably nothing to worry about, it's a somewhat common finding in ultrasounds but that we were at an increased risk for Down's... he recommended against doing an amnio but our choice of course. We didn't do the NT scan. ?There section in WTEWYE that pertains to this is titled 'How to Freak Out a Pregnant Woman' which is really appropriate. I don't remember seeing anyone on here post about this, please let me know you or anyone you know has had this come up.
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Re: Downs soft marker on ultrasound?
I have this EXACTLY.
Well, I should say, DD has it. OB said there was only one spot on her heart (it's called a "calcification") and there were no other markers. He also said that if it were his wife/child and he saw the spot he wouldn't even tell her because he wouldn't want her to worry without reason.
Yes, it is a marker for Down's. But there are other markers such as neck thickness (nuchal translucency) and spots in the brain that should also be there. My doc told me I could get an amnio if I wanted but that he doesn't recommend it since I'm so young. The risk of any problems is very low.
I also had a low-lying placenta so they will do another u/s at my 24 week check up to see if it's moved and I will also ask them to check the heart because I've heard they can go away.
Yes, it's something else to freak out a pregnant woman. I, however, am trusting my doctor and praying that he is correct. No amnio for us.
There were some other girls on here that had/have the same thing.
Good luck!
It's called echogenic cardiac foci. My daughter had it and she is perfectly fine. This baby has it too. I think they are kind of unsure about this one, as the advancement of ultrasound equipment has made this sort of thing show up where in the past they had no idea it was there. Who knows how many of us had it when we were in the womb.
I had the NT scan and it gave me a 1 4200 chance of downs, so I'm not really worried, Sometimes I think about it, but try to put it out of my head.
Is it too late to have the NT scan done? It's not evasive, extremely safe and will give you some numbers to put your mind at ease. But try not to worry too much about this one. Here is an interesting article I found pertaining to it.
https://www.medfriendly.com/echogeniccardiacfoci.html
Very informative article! Thanks!
My DD had the same thing when i went to my midtrimester u/s. I was a little nervous then, but the doc said not to worry. She came out just fine...i got an u/s a little later in pregnancy and it was gone.
Thanks again everyone for your responses, Ill ask about the follow-up ultrasound, that was not mentioned to me as a possibility.?