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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MarieG - 68 days ago.
My mum used to tell me that when your back is against the wall you should spend time preparing for when you have your opportunity to move. I use this quite a lot. For me this mean't preparing for when the baby came and keeping myself busy and motivated. I tried very hard to tell myself that if my baby had an issue upon birth then he was going to need me 100% and I needed to be there for him 100%. With that in mind I tried to take very good care of myself - health, nutrition, getting a lot of rest and relaxation. Be good to yourself, I know it's hard, but you need to be in a fit state if you child has an issue when born. Chances are they are going to be fine, as are many of the kids who had similar diagnosis on this board. Make a big long list of the things you need to do before they are born and start ticking them off. The idea is to keep busy. I also told myself that my next scan was x weeks away, so I was not going to stress over it until that morning. I know this is very hard, but 'this too will pass'.

BabyCarl - 68 days ago.
Just a question for everyone. I find myself cycling through emotions. At times I feel fine and at peace with everything. Other times I am so scared and just want to cry. What have all you guy's done to cope with this diagnosis?

BabyCarl - 68 days ago.
zawichick-I too turned down amnio because of the risks. They can draw your blood to see if it is an infection causing the VM. That is what my doctor did for me. I would ask them for that instead. I wish you the best for everything. I too am 27 weeks almost 28 and going through the same thing (regarding the VM). I will be praying for you and your baby! It can be very scary to know something is possibly wrong with a child. Is this your first?

zawichick - 68 days ago.
Hi everybody! I'm new to this site--totally stumbled upon it and I am SO happy to find such a great group of ppl to share stories with about this since the info. online is hard to sift through! I am 27 wks pregnant and found out at 19wks baby's vent's were 9mm--went up to 11mm after 2 wks and at our 24 wk u/s they went up to 15mm. After our last appt. we were told to switch to a Level III hospital with a NICU in case they need to shunt after our last appt. The baby appears to be developing well despite the enlarged vents. The only other marker they have found is a white spot on the heart (Echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF)). I have spoken to 4 different doctors about the VM and the EIF and some say they are unrelated and some say now the baby has two markers for Downs. Has anyone else had just VM and EIF found on u/s? We are meeting in a week for another u/s and to meet with a genetic counselor. The dr. told us we could get an amnio, but I am reluctant to do so b/c of risks and thinking that I will love this baby no matter if it has Down's or any other chromosomal abnormality. I have read that VM could be caused by infection also--which can be found via amnio--but I haven't found any info. if they can treat it or not? Has anyone actually had an infection found w/amnio and treated it? Thanks for any input! I will definitely be praying for all of you on the board!!!!

cathrinxxx - 68 days ago.
Babycarl, I agree with your values and thoughts on abortion 100% and I too was very shocked by how my doctor treated my situation and pushed abortion with me even although I had made my thoughts clear to her. Good luck with everything and God bless. Everyone, just to keep u updated had another scan today and things continue to remain stable with both ventricles remaining between 14mm-16mm. The baby is a little small but the doctor is not worried about that, saying some babies are just smaller than others. Everything is physically in proportion, meaning the head has not become enlarged. Thanks so much for all your support and I shall continue to pray for all of you and that things remain stable for my little one. God bless, Catherine.

BabyCarl - 69 days ago.
morganka03- No there was nothing else. They even did a very thorough ultrasound to make sure there was nothing else. We too were shocked by how forward the doctor was about termination. We like him and he is very optimistic and educated so it was dissapointing to have him even suggest it. To be honest it might be due to our location. We live in Portland, Oregon and as much as I love it here. It is very very liberal. The state of Oregon is actually one of the few states that have no cap on termination, meaning there isn't a limit on how far along you need to be. And thank you for your prayers. That is what we and our family is doing. He needs all the people he can get praying for him. Thank yoU!!!

morganka03 - 69 days ago.
BabyCarl, how wonderful that you are so firm in your faith to not even give termination a thought. God's plan for Carl is so much better than anything we can imagine. I, also, am amazed that your doctor even discussed termination with you. Is this isolated ventriculomegaly, or have other anomalies been found? I am sorry if I am being too nosey, and please don't answer if you are not comfortable. I am just curious. Will be praying for Carl, and you guys.

BabyCarl - 69 days ago.
Hey everyone! I am new and I am super happy I found this place. Let me give you the story real quick. At 20 weeks we had an ultrasound that showed our baby's (Carl) ventricals were measuring to large at 13 mm so he was diagnosed with mild ventriculomegaly. Talk about scary because the doctor talked to us about termination. That is against me and my husband's beliefs and it broke our heart to know people terminate based off of maybes. They had us follow up today (I am at 27 weeks) and unfortunately his measurement went up to 17 mm. Now we are being referred to a Pediatric Surgeon to talk about he possibilities of what might happen after he is born. I will be honest and say that at this moment I am feeling at peace with everything, because I know God has a plan and purpose. But it does break my heart to know that my poor baby might have a hard start at life. We have a F/U Feb 22nd to re-measure and I am praying that everything is better. I just wanted to share my story and I am so glad to know there are other parents out there who are and have dealt with this. It's encouraging and provides me with hope. Thank yoU!

follow the ox - 71 days ago.
Hi, we live in England, my wifes latest scan (24 weeks) the ventricular was 9mm. The doc said this is normal and not to worry. We are not overworrying but this is on the large side of normal. Can anyone give me the names of any good DHA supplements available in England? thanks, Matt

partyof5now - 73 days ago.
Nurse - congrats! I am so happy for you & glad to hear your little girl is doing so well..yay!

nurse - 73 days ago.
After a very long and scary pregnancy, my little girl arrived on Dec. 30th at 8:41 pm weighing in at 8 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She is beautiful and is doing very, very well. Her head CT right after birth shows moderate ventriculomegaly that will be monitored next at 1 month of age by a head u/s. Her head circumference is 50 % and her weight is 50 % as well. She is doing well. We are totally blessed and thankful for each and every story on this board that helped me through my first and very difficult pregnancy.

morganka03 - 73 days ago.
Turtlemom...I looked at your page...my girls were born on Aug. 26, 2008 as well!

turtlemom - 74 days ago.
New Parker pics on my page.

morganka03 - 74 days ago.
Hello everybody. I am not pregnant (anymore), but I do have a 16 month old daughter with severe ventriculomegaly and macrocephaly. She has, and still is sometimes, termed hydrocephalic...but her neurosurgeon says that is not technically appropriate anymore because there is not too much pressure in her head. We had SO, SO many worries about her in-untero (she also had some other complications), but thankfully we had wonderful doctors. It was frustrating at the time, because our doctors would not give us a long-term prognosis...they just said we would have to wait and see how she develops. However, I understand now that prognosis cannot be determined just by looking at images. I really, really can't understand how some of these doctors that I have read about on this forum, and other forums, are trying to determine mental and social outcome from images showing just ventriculomegaly. I know that our daughter is still pretty young, but despite her pretty scary MRI images, she is cognitively on-target. She is a little behind on physical milestones because her head is so heavy...her head circumference is way above the 95th percentile and her body weight is below the 5th. Anyway...I know that EVERY case is different, but images aren't the whole story.

KekeGidd - 74 days ago.
Had another scan yesterday ...they keep telling me I am Elderly (on going joke) since I am 39. All has been perfect until they noticed Left Vent at 10.6mm...new to all of this I am 26 weeks and have gained some hope from your comments. And am very greatful for this group of parents to share information and strength. I have been taking DHA/Omega for a years now and since reading your posts yesterday I have increased mine in hope it should help...what levels of DHA/Omega is recommended for this condition. Any other suggestions on this condition we should take with the Dr.s is GREATLY appreciated!

jess2008 - 74 days ago.
Just a quick note to our friends.....Baby Gage is back in the hospital and they believe he has pneumonia in his left lung. He has been sick off and on for about 6 weeks so we are glad they seem to have found it. Updates will be on his caring bridge site along with photos. www.caringbridge.org/visit/gagethomasdreesen

partyof5now - 75 days ago.
mtldad - I am so happy for you guys! yay!

partyof5now - 75 days ago.
RenataP - I understand your worry...we were told our son had enlarged left vent at 29 weeks 14MM & another disabling diagnosis as well on top of being told developmental delays so we went thru all the tests...fetal MRI & anmio only to be told nothing is for sure but we were left for 10 weeks with the worry & lots of tears....long story short (full story if interested is in blogs on my profile) at 39 weeks our son was born & CT scan done on him to check brain & left vent only to be told that our son is as healthy as can be, no vent enlarged like we were told & no disabling diagnosis like we were told...they had been wrong & my only guess is either it improved before he was born because I did start taking DHA prenatal vitamins after diagnosis (may not having nothing to do with it) or my son prefered a certain side to lay in my tummy so every time they did ultrasound & MRI we were told by them that they couldnt get a clear picture for a precise measurment of the vent but the image they were getting showed his vent enlarged so to cover their butts had to inform us of the worst possible outcome even tho it may not be bad at all...but it naturally scared us to death & we cried alot of tears. Our son now at 2 months is still as healthy as can be & meeting his milestones & I am overwhelmed almost to tears each time he smiles up at me because we were told such bad things by our doc's while pregnant & I feared that I would never even see a smile out of him after born due to the diagnosis given to him inutero. our nuerologist still wants to recheck him at 6-8 months just to make sure...so it is still in the back of our minds as a source of concern for him but there are, I have found on this site alot of outcomes like ours as well of being told the worst & the docs being wrong or it improving before birth...so keep strong & try to stay positive...our thoughts are with you, we know it is hard time while pregnant to wait the wait & not know anything for sure until baby is born.

mtldad - 77 days ago.
Hi RenataP..... I can share with you my story as it may provide some reassurance. During my wife's 30 week ultrasound, they measured the vents of our daughter (we had twins....1 boy & 1 girl) at 10mm, so they said they would keep an eye on it. At the 32 week U/S, they measured 12mm. They reassured us that this was only borderline and 'most likely nothing', but we were as panicked and freaked out as you can imagine. They did not recommend doing an amniocentesis or MRI simply because the risk and/or discomfort and the fact that at 30+ weeks, the results of further tests would not change anything of how they would treat it......other than to calm the freaked out parents. At all of the following ultrasounds, the measurements were stable at 12mm. It is also worth mentioning that following the 32-week U/S (where they measured 12mm), my wife started taking DHA/Omega-3 supplements. This was based on some interesting posts on this site that cited research indicating the benefits of DHA. I cannot say that the DHA helped stabilize the measurements and the doctors insist it is probably more of a coincidence, However, I would certainly recommend to anyone to look into it and my wife would start taking the supplements earlier on if she gets pregnant again. In the end, our twins were born both perfectly healthy. The post-partum ultrasound measured a consistent 11-12 mm and the doctors gave her a clean bill of health. So, for what it is worth, I hope you can take some comfort in the fact that our story ended very happily. I wish you all of the best in the remaining weeks and I hope this site provides you the support it did for my wife and me. Best wishes.

nordic - 78 days ago.
Happy new year everyone RenataP, I am sorry you are having to go through all this worry with only a few weeks to go. As you can read from many of the other stories on this board, 12mm is not very dilated, and is almost borderline normal. As you say, it is also very difficult to get a good measurement this late, it may just be an inaccurate image (ultrasound is definitely NOT 100% accurate). Our son had 12-13 mm on both sides, which turned out to be due to a missing membrane. He is now 18 mnths is perfectly 'normal' so far. A dilated ventricle could be caused by so many things and in most cases it is nothing serious and has no implications. From the stories I have followed here there is also very little doctors can do until they can actually examine the baby once it is born. I would talk it through with the doctors what they expect the value of having the MRI now and letting you go through all of this will be. As you can see on my page, I also went through all kinds of tests because I wanted to know everything (ultrasounds, MRIs, amnio, blood works) but in the end all that mattered was seeing the baby in real life.

RenataP - 80 days ago.
Hi, This is my first time on the site. I'm glad i found it because I am a little scared, and have found some reassurance here. I am 35 weeks pregnant. Throughout my pregnacy I have have many ultrasounds done, blood work and an amniosentisis because i am 36 yrs old. Ok. Never any concern. Everything has been ok, up until now. Now they tell me the left ventricle is 12mm and it's probably nothing, BUT my son could have developmental problems. I can't believe these doctors! Well, they want to do a fetal MRI. But then the doctor also tells me that given the baby's size now , the ultasounds are not 100% accurate so its possible that 12mm is wrong, thus the MRI that will be more accurate. In the mean time, they are talking about developmental problems. I am scared.

triciah - 83 days ago.
hi all, just added 2 new pics of ryan with santa and one that i found from right after he was born, if anyone wants to see.

mtldad - 83 days ago.
Hi All..... I haven't been around in a while but wanted to share some good news following the birth of our twins. My wife gave birth (by C-section) 1 month ago today and everything is normal. Our daughter's vents measured a stable 12mm in the post-natal ultrasound. I have never been so happy in my life when the nurse confirmed the good news. To recap our story, we had fraternal twins (boy/girl) and at around 30 weeks, our daughter was diagnosed with borderline (10mm) vents. 2 weeks later they were 12mm. So we were in constant confusion and concern. The measurements stayed stable for the rest of the ultrasounds and duration of the pregnancy, which was positive and her neucal translucency (spelling?) was normal, but still lots of worries. My wife also started taking DHA/Omega-3 supplements at 32 weeks, thanks to insightful information in postings on this site. The doctors don't believe the DHA/Omega-3 had anything to do with the vent measurements becoming stable, but one thing I know is that if we have more kids, my wife will certainly be taking the DHA to put the odds in our favor. Anyways, I just wanted to share some good news. I can still remember vividly the many many days and nights scared of what was happening. I also cried a lot of tears in the first few days after the birth before the docs and nurses actually took the time to tell us the good news (they knew immediately after the birth that everything was OK, but nobody realized my wife and I were still very much concerned). So I want to first of all say a HUGE thank you to everyone on this site. Both the words of encouragement and also just being able to hear what others are experiencing has been tremendously therapeutic. I also want to wish everyone the best wishes whatever the diagnosis, outcome and future hold. It is a very difficult time that few others will understand. A happy new year to everyone.

alina - 83 days ago.
God job Nana! Great to hear that everybody is doing ok.

my4thbaby - 83 days ago.
wow, that's amazing! well done Ryan :O) XXx