Cystic Hygroma

raelinds

I need some insight. I am almost 12 weeks and had an ultrasound a few days ago at the perinatologist and they confirmed that they saw a cystic hygroma on the back of the baby's neck.

This is an accumulation of fluid and can be an indicator of genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. We met with the genetic counselor and heard all the possibilities it could be.

Amongst those options was for it to resolve on it's own. Has anyone had a similar situation? And if so, what was the outcome? Any information would be helpful.

This is our first and we're quite anxious and concerned. Thanks everyone!!

AmyG2b

My friend's baby had a cystic hygroma and several other markers identified at her first ultrasound. After 4 weeks, it went away on its own, and she had an amnio and it came back negative. 

praying*4one

I wish ours resolved on its own. I'm sorry to say our 1st was a daughter with Turners' Sydrome. The cystic hygroma was one sign of many that she was not healthy.

I hope this doesn't upset you....we had an amnio to confirm. If I were you I'd want to hear both sides of the story so to speak. We did go on to have a healthy child as that is a random genetic disorder.

I will pray for you and your sweet baby.

raelinds

Thanks to both of you for sharing. I'm preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. It's all we can really do at this point.

If nothing has resolved at our next ultrasound (in approx. 4 weeks) we may choose to do an amnio for more information.

Regardless of what happens, being a mother for 3 months now has been the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced!

I appreciate any other stories, thoughts, or advice anyone else has as well!

keylargo

Hi there.  Back in 10/09, I went in for my big ultrasound only to find out that my little girl had a Cystic Hygroma.  This was at 19 weeks.  I had an amnio that day, and it came back normal.  I went on to have bi-weekly ultrasounds to check on it.  The day before Thanksgiving I was told it was going away and by December 11, 2009, I was told it was nearly gone.  My doctor said it was a "Christmas miracle". 

Long story short, my daughter also developed Non-Immune Fetal Hydrops along w/ the Cystic Hygroma.  The Hydrops was discovered at my 33 week appt.  Mallory Elizabeth ended up passing away on 1/12/10 or 1/13/10, and I was induced on 1/14/10 at 34 weeks.

The autopsy came back unknown cause.  We'll never know.  We did find out that a major heart defect or virus are the main culprits of the Cystic Hygroma/Hydrops combination.  She was chromosonally ok.

I am currently 36 weeks pregnant w/ our "rainbow" baby...so far, so good!

Best of luck to you.  There are a gazillion reasons for the Cystic Hygromas as you'll find.  Our case is a worse-case scenario, I know.  I also thought she'd just need a shunt/surgery upon delivery..I would have never dreamed of losing her.

Mrs.Chloe

Hi.  I'm sorry you find yourself in such a scary situation.  My DH & I have been dealing with this too.  I am currently 20 weeks along.  At our 12 week NT scan, we were informed they found a cystic hygroma.  Every piece of info I was given was doom and gloom - I was told we had less than a 5% chance of having a healthy baby.  We opted to do the CVS, and everything was normal & the baby is a girl.  I am an ultrasound tech myself, and have taken occasional quick peeks at her.  The hygroma has completely resolved, and everything seems to be developing normally.  We have our anatomy scan on Monday morning at our MFM office.  We also have a fetal echo set up for 22 weeks.  I can keep you posted on those results if you like. 

Basically, I know it's so much easier said than done, but try not to panic.  We were so disheartened after receiving such grim statistics from the doctors, and honestly, had kind of given up hope.  But so far, so good.  There is another message board that gave me a lot of hope.  It's on Baby Center - go there and search for the cystic hygroma board.  Lots of good stories (along with some inevitable bad news as well).   Hopefully you will turn into one of the success stories!

raelinds

Again, thank you all for sharing! For those of you who have lost a little one, either before delivery or after, my heart goes out to you! I simply can't imagine that at this point, and I'm trying not to think about the possibility, but of course it scares me.

Mrs. Chloe, I'd love to hear updates on your situation if you are willing to share. Any information helps me, because I honestly felt like I was one of the only ones after talking with the doctors.

I will continue to check this thread if anyone else has stories they are comfortable sharing!

Mrs.Chloe

I had the Level II ultrasound yesterday, and to our surprise, the baby looked PERFECT!  Hygroma has completely resolved, and what they could see of her heart looked great.  They still want to do the echo to be sure.  But I basically got a "We are no longer concerned, sorry for scaring you so badly".

I work with someone who just left MFM at UConn after eight years.  She could nto believe that my MFM freaked out so much.  She explained the situation in the following way:

When babies are small (11-14 weeks) their hearts are very large in relation to the size of their chests.  Often times the aortic arch puts pressure on the vessels leading down from the head/neck, and as a result lymph fluid can accumulate in the neck, resulting in a hygroma.  As the babies grow (15-18 weeks) their chests expand, and the pressure on vessels is released.  The fluid is free to flow, and the hygroma resolves. 

To me, this makes perfect sense.  And to be fair, I was told that this could be the reason.  BUT, I was told there was only about a 5-10% chance of this being the cause, and it resulting in a healthy baby.  I was told 60% chance of chromosomal problems, and then 30% major cardiac defect if the CVS/amnio was normal.  If I never had that damn 12 week scan, I never would have known anything was going on.  How many other people are out there that have resolving hygromas, don't do the NT scan, & never know it?? 

I will pray that you are in the same boat as us, and this turns out to be nothing more than a distant nightmare for you!!

raelinds

Thank you Mrs. Chloe!

I'm so glad your situation turned out so well! I know how much of a relief that must be!

I hope we get as good of news at our next ultrasound. Our bloodwork did come back from the screen and indicated a low risk of Downs, Turners, and Trisomy 13&18. That made me feel better. Now our next ultrasound is in about 5.5 weeks so I will be at about 18.5 weeks. It sounds like if it is due to how the baby is growing (and the size of the chest) we should know by then it sounds like.

The information, even if it amounts to a small percentage of cases, is encouraging and helpful.

I appreciate you sharing and keeping my spirits up!

Mrs.Chloe

That's good that they drew your bloodwork, and it came back low risk.  They wouldn't even take mine, because they were "so sure it would be abnormal" that there was no point.  Obviously, I know now that it would have come back as a low percentage, and it would have made me feel better.