Anyone else needing a specialized ultrasound?

olivemomma · November 2015

Hi ladies, I haven't posted too much but was just hoping for a little support or to see if anyone else has experienced this. We had our anatomy scan on Saturday (a boy!) and the tech said all looked good, no red flags. I just got a call from my OB and they want me to get a specialized fetal echo cardio gram ultrasound to look at the babies heart in more detail. She said the septum lining that separates the 4 chambers of the heart looked thin which could be a red marker for the baby to have a small hole in his heart. The consequences of this could vary widely depending on the location and size of the hole. Has anyone else experienced this? It's so scary.

rebelone · November 2015

I don't have experience with an echo cardiogram but I wanted to let you know you are in my thoughts and prayers and I hope your outcome is a positive one.

thaisac1 · November 2015

olivemomma said:

Hi ladies, I haven't posted too much but was just hoping for a little support or to see if anyone else has experienced this. We had our anatomy scan on Saturday (a boy!) and the tech said all looked good, no red flags. I just got a call from my OB and they want me to get a specialized fetal echo cardio gram ultrasound to look at the babies heart in more detail. She said the septum lining that separates the 4 chambers of the heart looked thin which could be a red marker for the baby to have a small hole in his heart. The consequences of this could vary widely depending on the location and size of the hole. Has anyone else experienced this? It's so scary.

I haven't had experience with this (have my anatomy scan in two days, fingers crossed), but I have experience with hearts. I just wanted to pop in to tell you not to panic just yet... All fetuses have a whole in the heart, the foramen ovale, in between the two top chambers of the heart (the atria). This only closes a few weeks after baby is born, and in 25% of the population it never closes at all. So there is one possibility... The atrial septum itself is quite thin. The ventricular septum, on the other hand, is not thin, and it is muscular. Did they say which septum was of concern?
In general, when there is an atrial or ventricular septal defect, the septum itself is not really thinner than normal; it has normal thickness but then has a hole in it. Makes sense?
I obviously cannot guess what is it that they saw to raise concern, but just take a breath knowing that most of these are false alarms. Fingers crossed for a normal second scan!

sarahufl · November 2015

I have an echo tomorrow. I have a single umbilical artery that may or may not pose growth risks and/or problems with heart development. There weren't any other issues they could ID at the time (which I guess is good?), but I am being more closely monitored from here on out.

olivemomma · November 2015

thaisac1 said:

olivemomma said:

Hi ladies, I haven't posted too much but was just hoping for a little support or to see if anyone else has experienced this. We had our anatomy scan on Saturday (a boy!) and the tech said all looked good, no red flags. I just got a call from my OB and they want me to get a specialized fetal echo cardio gram ultrasound to look at the babies heart in more detail. She said the septum lining that separates the 4 chambers of the heart looked thin which could be a red marker for the baby to have a small hole in his heart. The consequences of this could vary widely depending on the location and size of the hole. Has anyone else experienced this? It's so scary.

I haven't had experience with this (have my anatomy scan in two days, fingers crossed), but I have experience with hearts. I just wanted to pop in to tell you not to panic just yet... All fetuses have a whole in the heart, the foramen ovale, in between the two top chambers of the heart (the atria). This only closes a few weeks after baby is born, and in 25% of the population it never closes at all. So there is one possibility... The atrial septum itself is quite thin. The ventricular septum, on the other hand, is not thin, and it is muscular. Did they say which septum was of concern?
In general, when there is an atrial or ventricular septal defect, the septum itself is not really thinner than normal; it has normal thickness but then has a hole in it. Makes sense?
I obviously cannot guess what is it that they saw to raise concern, but just take a breath knowing that most of these are false alarms. Fingers crossed for a normal second scan!

It is the ventricular septum that is of concern. The tech didn't notice anything (or at least didn't mention anything to us) and the dr said no definite issue was seen on the us, the thickness was just alarming and could be a red flag for a larger problem. Have you heard of this? Thank you for your answer!

thaisac1 · November 2015

olivemomma said:

thaisac1 said:

olivemomma said:

Hi ladies, I haven't posted too much but was just hoping for a little support or to see if anyone else has experienced this. We had our anatomy scan on Saturday (a boy!) and the tech said all looked good, no red flags. I just got a call from my OB and they want me to get a specialized fetal echo cardio gram ultrasound to look at the babies heart in more detail. She said the septum lining that separates the 4 chambers of the heart looked thin which could be a red marker for the baby to have a small hole in his heart. The consequences of this could vary widely depending on the location and size of the hole. Has anyone else experienced this? It's so scary.

I haven't had experience with this (have my anatomy scan in two days, fingers crossed), but I have experience with hearts. I just wanted to pop in to tell you not to panic just yet... All fetuses have a whole in the heart, the foramen ovale, in between the two top chambers of the heart (the atria). This only closes a few weeks after baby is born, and in 25% of the population it never closes at all. So there is one possibility... The atrial septum itself is quite thin. The ventricular septum, on the other hand, is not thin, and it is muscular. Did they say which septum was of concern?
In general, when there is an atrial or ventricular septal defect, the septum itself is not really thinner than normal; it has normal thickness but then has a hole in it. Makes sense?
I obviously cannot guess what is it that they saw to raise concern, but just take a breath knowing that most of these are false alarms. Fingers crossed for a normal second scan!

It is the ventricular septum that is of concern. The tech didn't notice anything (or at least didn't mention anything to us) and the dr said no definite issue was seen on the us, the thickness was just alarming and could be a red flag for a larger problem. Have you heard of this? Thank you for your answer!

I don't do fetal echo (seen a few during my training, but that's it), so I can't knowledgeably comment. Will just say that fetal hearts at 20 weeks are really, really tiny, and everything appears small and thin. So here's hoping that by having an echo done by someone with more training and experience in this specific area will help clear out all concerns! Hugs!

yodiggity · November 2015

I've got an echo scheduled for 12/1. Fingers crossed for everyone.

mrsmtothek · November 2015

You are not alone! We have a fetal echo scheduled for Thursday because our tech noticed an abnormality with the mitral valve motions. Prayers for all of our little ones.

erind228 · November 2015

Thinking of all of you.

Sarcasm101 · November 2015

I have a fetal echo scheduled for mid- December.

H has a long family history of holes in the heart and DS was born with ASD and PDA. So I am getting a fetal echo for DS2, I want to be as prepared as possible.

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