2nd Trimester
laumol78
member
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echogenic intracardiac focus
laumol78
member
So i had an ultrasound done yesterday and they found something that is causing me great worry. An echogenic intracardiac focus. I had never even heard of this and now it's all I'm thinking about. I'm 35 so I'd had genetic testing done already and my odds for chromosomal abnormalities and downs were very low. So the dr explains to me that what this finding is has no affect on the babys heart but it CAN be a soft marker for downs. I got really upset. The Dr said he's not worried and I should not worry either, but how can I not? he said everything else is fine and with the testing I had he's confident. I was still worried today and call and spoke with a nurse. She also said I shouldnt worry. She thinks that soon this genetic blood test i had will take the place of amnios since they are 99%. No one seems to think I should have an amnio, but the option is there. I'm not sure what the point of the amnio would be since I already did the genetic tests (verify or harmony, forget which one). I'm just so frustrated. I've been reading about this and there are many mixed reviews. Some researchers think it's a soft marker, some think it isn't.
What i want to know is, who are these people who seem to find out for certain they are having baby with downs and terminate the pregnancy? Not trying to offend anyone, but how do some people know for sure they are having a downs baby to the point where they terminate? seems like nothing is ever certain.
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Re: echogenic intracardiac focus
As for how the calcification gets there, the doc said it may not even be a calcification. It could just be the way the heart muscle has developed.
I was nervous for the week between the a/s and the follow up, but I tried my best to relax. Stress is not great for baby, so just do your best to keep your mind off it, or talk about it, or whatever helps lower your stress level.
If the health care professionals don't think you need an amnio and you don't want one I don't see an issue, don't have one.
Hearing anything out of the ordinary is so scary buf as PP said, a soft marker does not have to mean anything. (Especially when all your tests said nothing is going on)
As far as termination and reasons for it, that is personal and so I assume a woman making that choice is sure of why.
Edit I also wanted to point out that the risk of a miscarriage or issue from an amnio is usually much less than we hear. I was at a greatly increased risk of an issue with my daughter. Until then I always thought I would not ever risk an amnio. I changed my mind after meeting with the doctor and learning more about the actual risk and knowing that if there was an issue we could know for sure and prepare for everything. (One example, I would have delivered in a different hospital)
We also have an echogenic focus, along with a couple other soft markers for downs. This is what they told me. With just an echogenic focus, your odds of down syndrome do not change at all. It is an "extremely wimpy" indicator of downs…as in most babies who have an echogenic focus do not have downs, and most kids with downs do not have an echogenic focus on their ultrasound…there is just a slightly higher rate of kids with downs who did have an echogenic focus on their ultrasound. They only make note of the echogenic focus because if you have that in addition to other markers, then you may have a higher rate of downs.