SUA - Single Umbilical Artery
Hello - At my anatomy scan the u/s tech informed us that my LO has a single artery in her umbilical cord, as oppose to two arteries.
The Dr that came in to explain the situation to us was not my regular Dr, I was at a different office that had the Level II u/s machine. The Dr just said that they'd monitor the growth of the baby, paying special attention to the heart and kidneys.
I go back for another anatomy u/s in a couple of weeks and have my normal OB appt this coming week.
From what I've read online (March of Dimes & What to Expect) the outcome can range from a normal healthy baby to congenital heart defects and/or kidney issues.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Can you tell me if your prenatal care changed and what the outcome was?
Thanks
Re: SUA - Single Umbilical Artery
DD had a SUA which was dx at her 20 week anatomy scan. She did very well. No problems at all. From what I understood it's almost an incidental finding. Our OB was not really concerned at all. Our ultrasound tech said in the 20 years she has worked she has never seen a bad outcome from a SUA. They just monitored her growth more and at the u/s they always checked the cord for good blood flow. I would suggest NOT to google this anymore...most things online are scary and it is better to not worry like that (you might go crazy)!
Good Luck!
I had a SUA but they noticed it after they noticed an anomaly in her heart. My DD had an interrupted aortic arch, another friend of mine had SUA and her daughter had a coarctation in her aortic arch, her baby's heart defect wasn't detected in uterine, mine was
Thank you all & I welcome additional feedback.
Thank you for the info about the tests and visits, we are moving at the beginning of my third trimester so I have to coordinate all this with my new OB.
@ Telfakaye, I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter and your friends daughter. I hope these conditions are treatable, I am not familiar with them. I have read about finding a hole in the heart at birth and having it close before the 1st birthday.
I agree with all of this. DD had an SUA (along with another soft marker), and she was perfectly healthy. The dr's told me they weren't worried and that if they didn't have to tell me they would prefer not too b/c it often causes the parents a lot of unnecessary stress. I have no idea if I had extra monitoring b/c of the SUA b/c I was having a lot of monitoring anyway due to it being twins and a shortening cervix/bedrest/hospital bedrest.
My DD had a SUA and that was the first thing that was seen that gave us any indications that there were problems. The tech at her level II told us about it but said not to worry, it was very common. I had to go back 2 weeks later for a follow up sono because my daughter was stubborn and wouldn't change positions so they could get a full view of the heart. Two weeks later, a sono showed that there was an echogenic focus on her heart and that my amnio fluid was low. I ended up seeing a perinatalogist from 21 weeks on. As a result of the low fluid and single vessel cord, my DD developed IUGR. I was admitted to the hospital at 28 weeks and my daugther was born at 32 weeks. At birth it was determined that the cord was the root of all of her problems, in addition to be single, it was also very short. My daughter was born with a hole in her heart and pulmonary stenosis and will have to have corrective surgery when she's 3. (BTW, she's an otherwise happy and healthy 21 month old)
I don't tell you this to scare you, but to show that even from this board you can see that the effect of an SUA can vary from normal to premature birth, to heart defects. It sounds like your OB has a good plan for your care, and as you said you'll have another sono in a couple of weeks and you'll be able to see if there are any changes. So, as another poster wrote, don't read any more about it! Worrying is natural but it won't help! Trust me, as I sit here on hospital bedrest with my second, with similar complications. For now, focus on taking care of yourself and eating right so you can optimize the nutrients that are getting through (and it probably won't hurt to lay on your left side when possible too). Like most of us, it's a game of wait and see, but stay positive, your baby will be fine!
GL