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October 2015 Moms
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Intracardiac focus

BryttanyDoesBridalBryttanyDoesBridal member
in October 2015 Moms
Hello, mommys!

My doctor recently called me regarding my 2nd trimester ultrasound. She told me that they saw an intracardiac focus on ultrasound- that it's very common, however they'll need another ultrasound and if there are more marks our daughter may have Down syndrome.

Has anyone else's baby had his marking in ultrasound?

We are very low risk, good health, 23 year old mother with no family history of Down syndrome.

We just want to know the true odds of what are daughter may be facing.
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Re: Intracardiac focus

  • CodiSilsbyCodiSilsby member
    I'm not super savvy on this - is the Intracardiac Focus the same thing as the Echogenic Intracardiac Focus (EIF)? If so, they found this on my daughters heart at my 19 week anatomy scan (this past week). We are choosing to not do further testing partly because they were able to measure everything for the baby - all with normal/average readings. All the other DS markers were checked and found to be normal. I was under the impression the second trimester ultrasound was to get everything measured all at once and then offer "next step" options like genetic testing so I'm not sure why they're doing a second ultrasound. Were they possibly not able to get all the measurements needed (baby was wiggly or wouldn't change positions)?

    At any rate, if these are the same things, feel confident in knowing that it's likely the ONLY issue they found with the heart, the EIF has no bearing on the hearts functionality, and that means your little girl's heart is working as it should!

    Another thing that gives me a little peace is that the biggest concern for Down Syndrome is a congenital heart defect. So if your LO ends up with a higher risk (your risk as of now with one soft marker is CRAZY low) you can rest easy knowing your baby won't have a heart defect.

    Also, if they don't find any other markers, they won't even refer you to a pediatric cardiologist because the EIF is SO common and it posts no danger to your baby's health.

    The EIF could also resolve itself (disappear) by your next US which would be wonderful! Good luck! Keep us posted :)
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  • LaurenNKLaurenNK member
    I had this on my 19 week scan as well (plus placental lake and a choroid plexus cyst).  Re-scan with maternal fetal medicine one week later (just last week) showed nothing.  A tiny ever-so-slightly bright spot on the heart that the specialist said wasn't even enough to count as calcification (the cyst resolved as well if it was ever there, and the lake is nothing to even think twice about).

    They usually resolve on their own, and taken by themselves aren't considered to really be a "marker" for anything.
    Even though I knew all of this, I still spent the 10 days between scans super anxious.  

    If you're low risk I wouldn't worry about it!  If for some reason they offer an amnio, ask about non-invasive prenatal testing instead :)  That way there's no risk to the baby as there is with amnio...
    TTC April 2012 
    BFP: Valentine's Day 2015!!!
    DUE:  late October 2015

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  • nlpitmannlpitman member
    I had this and they told us they needed us to do the genetic blood test to see about further screening. They said everything else but that spot were perfect so they saw no reason why my bloodwork wouldn't be normal. I did research and it's common...most of the time it's nothing especially with no other markers. I got my bloodwork back today...totally normal. 1:3500 chance so low risk
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  • cbolton19cbolton19 member
    CodiSilsby said:

    I'm not super savvy on this - is the Intracardiac Focus the same thing as the Echogenic Intracardiac Focus (EIF)? If so, they found this on my daughters heart at my 19 week anatomy scan (this past week). We are choosing to not do further testing partly because they were able to measure everything for the baby - all with normal/average readings. All the other DS markers were checked and found to be normal. I was under the impression the second trimester ultrasound was to get everything measured all at once and then offer "next step" options like genetic testing so I'm not sure why they're doing a second ultrasound. Were they possibly not able to get all the measurements needed (baby was wiggly or wouldn't change positions)?

    At any rate, if these are the same things, feel confident in knowing that it's likely the ONLY issue they found with the heart, the EIF has no bearing on the hearts functionality, and that means your little girl's heart is working as it should!

    Another thing that gives me a little peace is that the biggest concern for Down Syndrome is a congenital heart defect. So if your LO ends up with a higher risk (your risk as of now with one soft marker is CRAZY low) you can rest easy knowing your baby won't have a heart defect.

    Also, if they don't find any other markers, they won't even refer you to a pediatric cardiologist because the EIF is SO common and it posts no danger to your baby's health.

    The EIF could also resolve itself (disappear) by your next US which would be wonderful! Good luck! Keep us posted :)

    I keep looking all over the board at these posts. They are making me feel better. At our ultrasound today we found out our baby (girl!) has an EIF. Definitely scary. We have no other markers, no family history and I am relatively young (28). I am scheduled for another ultrasound in 4 weeks. I think we are going to decline further testing as well. Not sure if we will even keep the next ultrasound appointment. Though we still have some time to decide on that. It's a little overwhelming. Reading your response (and some of the others on the other threads) is helpful.
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