Dandy Walker?

Nrios002

Hello,

Hope everyone is well! I am 18weeks and 3 days pregnant with my first child. Yesterday at my anatomy scan the doctor saw some indicators of Dandy Walker including an underdeveloped Vermis and what looked like a cyst in the 4th ventricle of the brain. They were also unable to see the one side of the heart due to the baby's position. I will be having a fetal echo-cardiogram and a fetal MRI to get some more confirmation. If any of you have any experience or knowledge with Dandy Walker, please please share with me. It will be greatly appreciated!

missvolvo

I don't know a lot about Dandy Walker, but there is a child in a preschool program I know of that has Dandy Walker.  In terms of his skills and abilities, his cognitive and speech skills are right on target.  He does have delays in his gross and fine motor skills.  He also has a shuffling gait when walking, but this is improving everyday!  He is a delightful child.  Wish I had more information to share with you, but I thought I would pass along the little I know.  

Nrios002

Thanks so much for sharing what you know! It means a lot!

zoeyandsummersmom

Though they never said Dandy Walker, a late growth u/s found an issue with my daughter's vermis. I was supposed to have a fetal MRI, but by the time I was trying to have it done, I ended up having an emergency c-section for other issues. Though my daughter had a stroke and a brain bleed at birth (unrelated), the pediatric neurologist was "unimpressed" with her vermis. In doctor speak, that means it was normal and not an issue and within the normal range.

In the time between all of my u/s and her being born, I did tons of research on Dandy Walker. It is very much a spectrum disorder, which makes it hard to say what the future could be. Some people go through life never even knowing they are on the spectrum for DW. If you do a search there are a few moms on here whose kids have DW and also on babycenter. I reached out to them for advice, but like a lot of us are going through, it is very much a wait and see.

The best advice I have for you is to enjoy your pregnancy. If you want to research anything, learn about your state's (assuming you are in the US), early intervention program and go from there. Good luck I hope it all turns out okay.  

mbedroya

Sorry you are dealing with this. Did they tell you if the baby's ventricles were dilated at all? Any other problems they can detect at this point? If it is only the cerebellum it sounds like dandy walker varient which generally has the better prognosis.
I am 22 weeks and we learned at 19 weeks that our baby girl has the dandy walker malformation, dilated ventricles and a meningocele. They said what she has is on the very severe side. We are waiting til 30 weeks for the MRI bc they said they will gather more information at that point. You are welcome to private message me if you have more questions.