Ventriculomegaly

How can ventriculomegaly affect my child?

Ventriculomegaly

The ventricular system contains sac-like pockets that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid. When the ventricular system of the brain is enlarged, it is known as ventriculomegaly. The lateral ventricles of the brain are less than 10 mm wide in a healthy fetus. However, a fetus that suffers from ventriculomegaly has lateral ventricles measuring 10-15 mm wide. Sometimes they are even larger, in which the case is severe. Luckily, ventriculomegaly is not linked to other health conditions in most cases. Severe cases of ventriculomegaly can result in hydrocephalus, also known as water on the brain. In hydrocephalus cases, the cerebrospinal fluid builds up and puts pressure on the brain.

There are three major causes of ventriculomegaly. Improper brain development, destroyed brain tissue and insufficient absorption of cerebrospinal fluid are all factors that can make the ventricles in the brain larger. Sometimes chromosomal problems can cause ventriculomegaly.

Ventriculomegaly affects approximately 1 out of 1,000 live births and is normally nothing that the mother has done. The condition can be diagnosed before or after birth. Ventriculomegaly can be detected on ultrasound by the second trimester. An MRI can also be helpful in diagnosing the condition. A chromosomal analysis can be used to test for chromosomal problems that can cause the condition.

The only time that ventriculomegaly needs to be treated is when there is water on the brain. Even if there is no water on the brain, regular exams should be done to monitor the condition. Once the baby has been born, doctors will do exams and measure the head circumference to make sure the baby is healthy. Usually, ventriculomegaly will resolve on its own and there are no neurological or developmental problems. As long as there are no other health conditions or chromosomal abnormalities present, the long-term prognosis for a child born with mild to moderate ventriculomegaly is great.

Comments: Ventriculomegaly

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cjengo - 41 days ago.
Thanks party of five, she just understands what they are going through I guess.

partyof5soon - 41 days ago.
cjengo - it is awesome that your little girl is so concerned with other & willing to take time out for other kids...such a big heart for one so young!

cjengo - 41 days ago.
Hello VM board, hope everyone is doing well. From one mom that spent a lot of time on here I am asking for some help. My little boy suffered a stroke in utero, yes babies have strokes, and he has severe disabilities because of it. My little girl was inspired by my sons courage, and fight to survive, and she wanted to help other children. She has spent many hours by his side in various hospitals, and she came up with Emilys Smile Boxes (www.emilyssmileboxes.com). She makes brightly colored boxes filled with goodies to cheer up patients and their siblings in the hospital. Help Us Win Money For Emily's Smile Boxes We Need Your Vote! Christie Cookie is giving away $25,000 to charities. The charity with the most nominations wins... $10,000. It only takes about two minutes to vote so click on the link below and nominate Emily's Smile Boxes, Dallas TX to Win! http://www.christiecookies.com We are getting started pretty late in this contest, but we have faith in you guys.

mtldad - 41 days ago.
Thanks Susan29 for your encouraging words. I try to remain positive and am doing exactly as you said...get informed and try not to stress out too much. These are our first kids and I am already starting to understand what every parent means when they say they would do or give anything for their kids to have a healthy and happy life. Just the fact of having to even think about all of this stuff makes me more determined to be a better person. I hope I will always remember this feeling as a reminder to spend every bit of time with them that I can and to be more patient than I tend to be. And congratulations on your new bundle of joy. My thoughts and wishes are with everyone.

susan29 - 41 days ago.
mtldad - I had the exact same scenario at my 20 wk appt. My Dr. indicated that it was nothing to worry about and that they would re-measure in 4 weeks because these things often resolve on their own.. I didn't kknow what to think and ofcourse I was going to worry! I did a ton of research and scared myself silly..until I came across this site.. I went out immediately and purchased the enfamil dha supplement based on some of the stories that I have read on here... the case with my LO ended up resolving itself and went down to 7mm at my next appt.. I gave birth to my LO August 29...no indication of anything being wrong...she is abig beautiful healthy baby girl :) my advice to you is to be informed... know the possibilities but please dont believe everything u read... I found that much of what is on the internet is worst case scenarios.. I pray for all of the women and their little ones on this board every night and I will include your family in my prayers... try your best to stay positive and congratulations on your twins! A boy and a girl that's wonderful!

mtldad - 42 days ago.
Hi everyone...I hope you don't mind having a dad-to-be on the forum. My wife and I have some concerns and we're both looking for any info we can find. My wife is about 32 weeks pregant with twins. Our first kids. She is 33 and I am 41, conceived through IVF because of my slow sperm (her system was perfectly normal). In the latest ultrasound (last week) they found that the cerebral ventricle(s) of the boy measured 10mm. This is the first we had ever heard of this so we don't know where to begin. We understand that 10mm is the border of normal/abnormal but it is too long to just wait until the next exam in 2 weeks to find out if it is better or worse. I'm an analytical person and when I observe that the boy is smaller than the girl and that the gap in weight is increasing over the last several ultrasounds (i.e. girl is growing quicker) which makes me think something is impeding his development. However, both weights are in the normal range and everything else is normal. There is so much information available but we are desperately trying to understand what enlarged CV can mean. What are the possible results if it remains enlarged? What are the probabilities of those outcomes? Anyone have any advice or recommended sources of info? I've searche the internet pretty extensively and don't know what to think. In the meantime, I send my best wishes to everyone on this forum.

almostmommaof2 - 42 days ago.
Well, my pregnancy journey is about to end and I will begin another one. I am scheduled to have my baby on the 13th. They moved me up a week because of all the problems I have been having, not because of the baby which is wonderful. Her diagnosis has been the same. They say she has severe bilateral hydrocephalus measuring between 27 and 29 mm which they have been measuring that since sometime in July and haven't gone up. Her head is measuring about 2 and 1/2 weeks ahead and the cerebellum which was normal a while back is coming in a little behind measuring 2 weeks off. But the dr doesn't seem to concerned about that because she said all the parts are there and appear normal and it could be the fluid compressing it. They still are saying it is isolated so we will find out in 2 days. I have never been so scared and excited in my life. I am just looking forward to having her here and our family being complete. I am beyond ready to face whatever may come our way, all this waiting and guessing and not knowing is horrible. She already has the best little personality. On one of my many ultrasounds I have had in the last few weeks we watched her blinking, playing with her feet, plugging her nose (or atleast playing with it, certainly looked like she was plugging it lol), showing off her sucking reflexes and smiling and scowling. She is really chubby... I can't wait for my next blog to let you all know how meeting my daughter went. I just have to pull myself together and be strong for Tuesday. RIght now I am scared also for having a c-section. I have never had one and am so scared I won't be able to handle the pain and that I will miss something going on with the baby because I won't be able to get right up... But today I am working on pushing those thoughts out of my head and focusing on the positives! I am going to have my baby girl!

professormom - 43 days ago.
Hello All, I wanted to say my baby girl was born healthy on September 28th... the docs didn't even mention the VM. Her scores were 8/9 and she appears to be healthy and normal. Here is an article I found on dha supplements: http://www.news-medical.net/news/2009/01/18/45029.aspx -

Havingfaith - 43 days ago.
anyones baby have/had VM18mm, cortical thinning, small brain, dilated cerebellum and short limbs? also dilated 3rd ventrical? it doesnt sound to good for us at all ;'(

partyof5soon - 44 days ago.
Anyone heard from montrealmom lately? I know she was going for a second opinion I think this week...hope she gets some positive news.

Havingfaith - 44 days ago.
My babys vents measured 18mm on the ultra scan, the same day i went for an mri scan and they measured exactly 18mm x

partyof5soon - 44 days ago.
MarieG - that would be great if it happens that way, I am glad to hear your LO's vent measured in the normal range when born...thats must have been a relief. I am so ready to have my little guy here & get checked out & see how he is doing & look him over with my own eyes as well...both my docs are fine with me having him vaginaly & letting nature take its course as we did with my previous babies but for some reason I am still fearful of that putting too much pressure on his lil brain...I guess I am just a bit over protective, even of him & he isnt even here yet. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

MarieG - 45 days ago.
Partyof5soon. I think that measurements made in utero often appear larger than they actually are. My little one had to come out at 37 weeks as they thought his RV was 19mm. However upon delivery they measured him thru his fontanelle and it was 8.4 mm. A month later it was still that size. Upon delivery you may find that it is well under 10.

linnyc1981 - 46 days ago.
partyoffive- so excited for your news. Keep believing in your bub :) and you will meet him soon enough!

partyof5soon - 46 days ago.
babygirlontheway - thanks so much. I actually do recall reading something about breech being common in Hydrocephaly & Colpocephaly babies dont know why & for the life of me I cant remember were I read that. I am so happy as well to have found this section of the site when my son got diagnosed with VM & Colpocephaly...I was a member of the site since my 9th week of pregnancy but never knew of this section of the site or even that this could happen to babies especially while they are in our tummies...I feel blessed to have found it as a shoulder to lean on thru all the difficult news & testing...its really helped me along the way

babygirlontheway - 46 days ago.
partyof5soon, that is great news! congrats! :) I visited my OB today for my 36 wk follow up... baby Gabriela is still breech. agghh! has anyone else heard that breech is likely in hydrocephaly or ACC babies? maybe she's just lazy like her mama... but we're scheduling a c-section at 38 wks, on October 22nd. I see my perinatologist this next Tuesday, and i'm still praying... on a more positive note, I found out my hospital has relations with a cord blood bank from San Antonio... for $1500 they will be storing her cord blood for me! and if I decide to do a transplant, they ship it anywhere I want, even overseas... so now we just wait... 2 more weeks. I think about you ladies all the time, sharing your stories with friends and family. truly, i'm blessed to have found you all... --Liz

partyof5soon - 46 days ago.
Well Kaden's vent measured the same as two weeks ago 10.3 MM...we were so hoping for an improvement & for it to measure under the normal mark like his other side but our specialist was very positive about its measurement & the surrounding brain tissue...said again like last time that if he hadnt seen how large it was before when we first got diagnosed that he wouldnt notice the enlargement now because it is so slight...I did find out I was wrong on the first measurement of his vent from our first appt, I thought it first measured at 11.4MM but that was the second measurement, so it had gone down over the two or three week period...it originally measured at 14MM at 28/29 weeks when diagnosed...so for it to go originally from 14MM down to 10.3MM in a 7 week period is alot to us & has given us alot of hope that by the time Kaden is born maybe it will continue to decrease & be normal size when they run tests on him...crossing our fingers & praying he will be a healthy little guy...just cant wait to hold him finally...oh & I posted two 4D pics the doc took of him yesterday, he just has the chubbiest cheecks already for only being 35 weeks, just cant believe I love him so much already & he isnt even here yet. Hope you all & your LO's are doing good

partyof5soon - 47 days ago.
Well we go for our last U/S today at the specialist office before he is born to check Kaden's vent measurement & brain...hoping he co-operates this time & is laying in a way that makes it easy for doc to get a clear measurement this time & I am so hoping his enlarged vent size has decreased again like it did two weeks ago, it would so make the last couple of weeks of this pregnancy a little less stressful if his vent & brain showed an improvement again & looked closer to normal. Havingfaith - I am thinking of you, your little one & your family.

Havingfaith - 47 days ago.
Ours isnt an isolated case though, he has VM 18mm which is growing, thinned cortex, less brain tissu than normal, his bones eint growing, and narrowing of the front head. If it was on VM id feel more positive, but the changes in his brain since the mri 10 weeks ago is not right. :'(

mrskudla - 47 days ago.
Hi everyone, I just want to give a quick update - I am going to be induced Wednesday 10/7 @ 7:00 pm, and I am very anxious! My due date was 10/2, and at my last appt. on 9/30, I was only 1 centimeter dilated & 40% effaced. Well, today, dr said I was still only 1 centimeter, but my blood pressure had increased slightly and I had gained 3 lbs of water weight. On a positive note, at my last biophysical ( Iget them every week & am having one this morning), the vent measured between 7 and 10 (decreasing). I am praying this means we will find the vents within normal parameters at birth when they do the MRI. Best to everyone, Melissa

triciah - 48 days ago.
havingfaith....i am thinking of you and saying a prayer that GOD will bless you and your baby. remember only He knows the outcome, and even all the tests in the world can be wrong whenever GOD takes over. believe me. i have been there with such large vent sizes for ryan and for him to be doing so great...one word...miracle(all the babies on here are miracles!)we had such positive drs. and nurses in our lives, and they also played a roll in how i was able to get thru all of this. some people weren't as lucky as us, and i'm not sure what kind of care your drs give you, but please just keep in mind the many stories on here of those who were told to terminate, and have had wonderful miracles added to their lives because they chose to let GOD take over and let whatever will be, will be. i am here today to tell you that, if i would have had all these stories back when i had ryan i would probably have been even more empowered with strength and faith( and there were only a few back then and they truly helped me get thru my time to deal with all of this) you are truly blessed with having found this forum and i believe you are truly blessed with a wonderful baby that will exceed all of your thoughts and dreams...hang in there, positive thoughts, prayers, love, hugs, and kisses from ryan and me.

Havingfaith - 48 days ago.
Scan shows kaden has severe VM 18mm, and he is showing less brain tissue than normal (thinned cortex) He has a significant risk of being handicapped, how bad, we dont no. The genetic dr's have put it through a database and cant come up with anything, Kaden has baffled them with his case. It is all down to waiting for the blood results from his cord which will be up to 2weeks. hopefully they will find something so we can prepare and get used to the idea. If they cant find anything it is a matter of waiting till hes born to see how bad he will be. It is up to me and Ross if we decide to take that chance :(

Havingfaith - 49 days ago.
we get the mri results tomorrow, at 3:30pm (uk time) im so scared, ive been here before at 24 weeks and things were fine, wish i could feel positive, i really so x

MarieG - 50 days ago.
I had a bizarre conversation last week with a friend of a friend I met. She was asking me about my son and I told her I had had a very difficult pregnancy. Before I even told her anything she went on to tell me that she too had had a very difficult pregnancy with her 1st child (who is now 5 and absolutely fine) who had been diagnosed with VM during pregnancy and she went thru the amnio, MRI and other tests too. I was amazed that someone I knew in person had had the same problem. It seems that this is a lot more common than we think!

partyof5soon - 51 days ago.
Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!!! Glad to see him doing so well!