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2nd Trimester
echogenic bowel??
When we had our 20 weeks anatomy scan the doctor mentioned the baby had
possible echogenic bowel. There was a bright spot on her intestines. He
said most of the time it's nothing, but could indicate downs or cystic
fibrosis. We declined the amnio because we've already had 1 loss and I don't want to risk another. They are having us come back for a another u/s at
the end of April. The doc kept saying he couldn't even give me numbers
as to the chance of something being wrong. Hubby doesn't seem to
concerned but I can't help but worry about my little one. There were no
other markers for anything and our sequential screening was fine. Anyone
else ever have this???
This discussion has been closed.
Re: echogenic bowel??
Hi! I went through this with my DD#1 at her May 2010 anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I also asked about it here, but nobody knew wtf I was talking about.
I was sent to get a level 2 ultrasound and had an appt. with a genetic counselor right afterward (same perinatologist office) just in case.
It is very common to get spots like this at an anatomy scan u/s and I did not know that. They do the follow up just in case and in our case, there were no spots at the second u/s. (thankfully!) I was told it is bc the u/s are not perfect.
They even scheduled another growth u/s at 35 weeks for me bc of this issue. Again, totally healthy.
I know it's easy to say not to worry, but it's nearly impossible not to. It probably really is nothing, but I hope this helps you calm your nerves about it and I also hope that everything is alright.
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I JUST went through this myself. An echogenic bowel was detectedc at our 16 week scan. At first, I was terrified. It could mean cystic fibrosis, Down Syndrome, trisomies, infections such as parvovirus, toxoplasmosis and cytomegalovirus. However, there are a couple things to keep in mind. My doctor told me in 20 years, he's never had a case of toxplasmosis. My test for that was negative. The other infections he said it was unlikely I'd come into contact with, because they're generally picked up from small children, and I'm never around kids. They were also negative. My integrated screen results were negative, which means that there's a very low possibility of Downs or trisomies, too low to warrant further testing. my bloodwork also showed I'm not a carrier for cystic fibrosis, so that ended the inquiry.
Honestly, echogenic bowel on its own, as an isolated finding, doesn't indicate much of anything. It can even be from errors in the sensitivity of the transducer being used. It can also be just artifact, or literally something that appears to be there on the u/s, but isn't IRL. My doctor also told me it's possible that baby swallowed a little blood or vernix with amniotic fluid, and that produced a spot in the intestine. If that's the case, it's nothing to worry about.
If the spot doesn't go away on its own, you may be monitored for IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction), just to make sure baby stays on track with its growth. If not, and it's too slow, they may deliver early after it's safe. My guess is, without other issues found on your scan or other problems detected on the integrated screen, it's likely to be nothing. I was worried and a little anxious this week waiting for my results, but I kept trying to assure myself chances were, it would be ok.
Don't freak out too much, have the follow up ultrasound, and get the bloodwork done. Then you'll know for sure what it isn't, and be able to move on with a clear head. GL!
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