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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turtlemom - 62 days ago.
Yes, Destmc, the brain is like a sponge. When the fluid is less, the brain will more than likely bounce back. Cases like mine where the brain was severely compressed for months can cause issues where the brain does not come back. But, in its place would be a cystic structure. There would either be brain matter or fluid. There can't be open spaces without anything.

destmc - 62 days ago.
hello all. i am now 30 weeks pregnant with a baby girl. 4 weeks ago we were told that our baby had 14mm fluid in one ventrical and that a part of her brain in the back on one side didn't develope. i have had all the testing done and it is not chromosonal. when i went back to the dr one week ago the fluid had gone down to 10mm which is great news but i am wondering if that part of her brain that the fluid was taking up can still develope. the drs just don't know. i've read all of the posts about fluid but didn't see where anyone's baby's brain did not develope in that area. is there anyone out there with something similar? please help, i am very anxious for info. thank you and god bless you all, you are all in my prayers.

CiaranMum - 62 days ago.
Thats great to hear two-on-board about your twin son's progress to date. You're Consultant's advice seems very appropriate but isn't it just awful we had to go through so much stress during our pregnancies. My Consultant informed me if they were to perform a MRI scan on all the adult population, plenty of cases of partial or full ACC would be found, with no side-affects. They are only picking up these anomolies now as scanning technology has advanced so much in recent years. As soon as my Son was born, I put all the results to the background and concentrated on him as little person and within a few months realised he actually was quite bright and as you found, such a happy content baby. One thing the Physios and Neuros look at are the babies hands - newborns always have them tighly closed in fists, but by six months they should be open most of the time and not clenched tightly - so thats just something to watch for, as Physios and O.Ts can advise more on this. I wouldn't bother with further MRIs, unless milestones weren't being reached, or speech was an issue by the time the child was age two. Our son (age 14mths) is already saying Mama, Dada etc & copies various noises we make to him by song. You have older children, so you'd spot such delays before any Doctor!! Best of Luck with him, he sounds like another gem:) nurse - I really hope your baby girl's chromosome results come back fine. Its such a long, anxious waiting game with so many 'what ifs'. As regards the head size, I was scanned every couple of weeks to measure the one enlarged vent and to see if head size was increasing/swelling. He generally was about 2 weeks ahead with most measurements (my husband's family are all very tall!) Luckily by 38 weeks it was 91%, so I was able to have a normal delivery and Ciarán was 8lbs, 5oz. Best wishes - I'll keep your little girl in my prayers xx

BabygirlOnTheWay - 63 days ago.
Hi everyone! I hope you guys are doing well... everyone has been in my thoughts and prayers daily... spiritually, life has been great! I just keep thinking God is good and I should be thankful for everything I have... I just wanted to ask some of you moms, who have been told your babies have ACC and then found out it was really nothing or at least nothing to worry about, if the doctors ever told you that your baby had 'characteristic findings' of ACC? I go back this week to my OB, and we will be deciding when to plan the birth... probably in about 4 weeks (at 38 weeks), baby Gabriela is still breech. My perinatologist doesn't want to see us back until right before we deliver (strange, because I thought he'd want to follow us closely). However, he had told us that he sees bits and pieces of the CC (but not much), she has the 'teardrop' configuration of her ventricles, is missing her cavum septum pellucidum, her third ventricle is dilated, her callosal artery doesn't 'loop around' like it's supposed to, etc etc etc... so I'm left to thinking 'he must really know what he's talking about, and she must have ACC'--of course, all of this has been on ultrasound (level II), no MRI. Just wondering if anyone has been told anything similar... other than that, we're just getting bigger and bigger as the days go by, and feeling her move around a lot. We can't wait to meet her!

Havingfaith - 64 days ago.
labella you will be in my thoughts and prayers to, i was so looking foward to being pregnant again, now i just want 8 weeks to hurry up so i can hold him!!! best of luck to us all x x x

two-on-board - 64 days ago.
Having experienced all that you ladies are experiencing, and felt the same if not very similiar, the waiting game is the hardest part and wanting your babies here so you can see them makes you feel next to desparate. The doctors cannot tell you how things will be when they are born and even if they can give you a vague idea, they will not committ incase it is not the case. Having had my babies and seemingly received a 'normal' (whatever that might be) baby I count myself as very lucky, but noone knows that to be the case, without all the tests that we receive and the findings that are found. Even when they are born it is the waiting game until they start to achieve their milestones and development progresses. That is the case with every baby born, even with a straightforward pregnancy. By this time though, you will love them no what, you will have already decided that you would not change them for the world as they are yours, although you may wish any health issues away, maintaining the little personality that has grown and developed in that time, that you have come to understand and respond too, will be more important than any outcome. Whatever decisions are made and reached, it is a personal journey, a painful and but sometimes happy journey, and only the individual will know what that means and how it affects their decisions. My heart aches for you all as I have been there and done that and you will be able to be in a position to be able to look back too soon. My best wishes go to all of you.

labella7020 - 65 days ago.
nurse, I'm so sorry to hear that. keep the faith though. The waiting is the hardest part and like you said if venticulomegaly and hydrocephalus isnt enough...my questions were always what if everything comes back normal???Then what??? Is it just considered a normal variant at that point? There are just too many variables with this diagnosis and thats what scares me I guess...I am praying for you and your little girl. I do know that not even the doctors will know how our babies will be until they are born. I feel like they scare us and give us worst case scenarios so they won't get sued...you are in my thoughts and prayers...please keep us posted.... havingfaith, i go tuesday as well and you are in my thoughts and prayers....i know what you mean about just having him in your arms. Pregnancy is supposed to be a happy and exciting time and I feel like all of ours have turned into us wanting for it to hurry up and be over with so we can have our babies in our arms so we know things will be ok....hang in there and keep us posted!!!

nurse - 65 days ago.
I wish I could agree that most aminos do come back okay however; ours didn't come back 'okay.' There is a noted balanced translocation of chromosome 6 and 8, which could be completely normal or not. We now have to wait 1 more week to figure this out as the lab is testing my blood and my husband’s blood to see if we carry this and passed it along to her. If developing ventriculomegaly into hydrocephalus wasn't enough... Now I have to play the waiting game for these test results. I don't even know what I'm going to do if they come back inconclusive.

Havingfaith - 65 days ago.
I was still in shock when i had the amnio, i was told all this stuff, my head was all over the place, i remember having to sign a consent for and agree to the risk of misscarriage, i could barely see through the tears. luckily nothing went wrong for me...im finding comfort that he doesnt have any chromosom disorder, but im really dreading tuesday, i just wish i could sleep untill they hand me him in my arms!

labella7020 - 65 days ago.
Hi Nordic, thank you for your reply. I just read your blog and its comforting to know someone out there has had a similar situation. Your baby is beautiful :) I agree with you on the amnio. I prefer not to get it done but when I went to the specialist last time they said it was really for me so they could determine what level of care I received in the future. After I asked what they meant they said if the baby has issues that are not compatible with life they will not be as aggressive as far as the baby's care is concerned. This concerned me because even if something were to be seriously wrong I would want them to do all they can for my baby. The amnio is just a risk my DH and I are not willing to take. Especially living close by to some of the best hospitals in the world. We are two hours away from Duke and Chapel Hill. Like you said it will NOT change our decision. I felt selfish not getting it done as it may shed some light on what could be going on, but after reading this site for several weeks I realize that even when mothers get the amnio done it usually comes back ok. So thank you for your advice. It is greatly appreciated. God bless you and your family.

nordic - 65 days ago.
Labella, I would also think through whether you want the amnio? Is it going to change whether you keep the baby or not? If the answer is no then I would agree that there is no point taking the risk. I was in the same situation as you and the doctors recommended an amnio. I felt like since they said I should do it that it was a good idea, but with hindsight I didn't think enough about the risks. At the time I was just trying to find out as much information as possible, so I certainly understand why mothers do it. My point is just that I would really question whether it is needed or not.

labella7020 - 66 days ago.
Hi all. I have been following this forum for many weeks now. AT 17 weeks our baby was diagnosed with bilateral ventriculomegaly with ventricles measuring 13mm. This was found on a routine ultrasound and we were sent to a specialist to have a level 2 ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis. After the final diagnosis the specialist had nothing positive to say about our situation. We were given the option to terminate which was out of the question as we have had 3 prior miscarriages. So many words were thrown at us and so many tests were offered. My DH and I left that office feeling so defeated. They keep pressuring me with the amnio and I am scared to get it because of the risk of miscarriage. I am trying to exhaust all other tests and leave the amnio for a later time. I hope I am making the right decision. My DH and I go back Sept. 22 for another level 2 to see how things are going. I will be 22 weeks and I am hoping all will be well. DH and I have accepted whatever is given to us because we are truly blessed to be having a baby. I am having a boy by the way and I just wanted to thank all of you for remaining positive and giving us all hope on here. I believe that God will not give us more than we can handle. Thanks again and I will keep everyone posted!!

Ana30 - 66 days ago.
Hi, wanted to put some update to give you more lights and hope Today is exactly one year since the horrible world of Ventriculomegaly has been introduced to me. I wish I could have an eraser to erase and forget this word from my life (forever). Anyway to make long story short: My son was diagnosed with mild VM (12 mm) in the week 29 of my pregnancy. Ventricles corrected itself by the end of the pregnancy, however some permanent brain damages in germinal matrix area remained and confirmed on the baby head's ultrasound (2 days old). Stroke in uterus was suspected, however who really knows??? Prognosis were different , the worst given by neurologist. My son is nine months old, doing great, developing according to all charts and measurements. He achieved all of his milestones... (now crawling fast and moving all way 'against' furniture). The last ped.'s report :Healthy baby, no problem seen with motor development or communication. I just want to give you more light with this positive outcome. Don't browse Internet and don't listen anybody with any prognosis) if you love yourself at all -- your body and mind don't deserve this huge amount of stress). I learned to trust to God only, He only knows all definite answers. This is so unexplored area of science, even kids with permanent brain damages might have 'normal' development. My son is supposed to have MRI when he is 12 months old, but I havn't decided yet -- will we go for it. I'll keep you posted and I'll post more on his development as soon as have more time (in my profile page)

nordic - 66 days ago.
I am so glad to hear from the Mums who have had their babies that they are doing well. Our son had his 15 month checkup today, and the issues during pregnancy were not even mentioned. He is doing great and hitting all his milestones. I think what a lot of these stories show is that we don't really know enough about the brain and how it works yet to be able to predict the outcome for a baby. Therefore it is very frustrating when doctors give a prognosis and forget to say how little research and studies that prognosis is actually based on.

nurse - 67 days ago.
CiaranMum: Thanks for your great story. It really helps me a lot as my baby girls vents have now increased to approx. 20-21 mm at 24 weeks. How did your babies head progress? Measuring on track the entire time with gestational age? I put a post out before a couple weeks ago about my story and what I'm going through now. I got the test back from the amino and there is a potential problem that the genetics lab is looking into. It's something called a translocation of the 6th and 8th chromosome, which makes no sense to me. The counselor told me it could be completely normal or it could explain enlarged vents. As of right now, our infection tests came back negative, the fetal ECHO is fine, the MRI looks fine except for the enlarged ventricles and she is doing fairly well except for this set back. I'm praying the chromosome test comes back fine so I can continue this pregnancy and hope for the best. Thanks again for your post.

two-on-board - 67 days ago.
Hello CiaranMum, Thank you for your experience, I would echo the same as you. My little twin boy has ACC, confirmed by MRI scan today. Strangely the rest of his brain is perfectly formed and for some reason does not reflect the presentation of ACC anymore like it did when I was pregnant. His vents have both returned to normal size and he has no other anomolies, his screening, karotyping, hormones and eye sight are normal, as were all the tests that I had when I was pregnant too. I completely disolved into a complete mess when I was told about his differences, I read far too much on the internet and completely freaked myself out. Like the last posting he is meeting all his milestones, in line with development and although does not do all his twin sister does, can do other things that she cannot yet. He truely is the happiest of all my six children and I would go as far to say the easiest too. We are lucky enough to have not experienced any of the side effects of ACC so far. The consultant that we met with today has advised me not to tell anyone about his condition, incase it causes him to be treated differently and only tell him when he is old enough to know that complete, isolated, primary ACC holds a great prognosis. She says that there is no reason for him to have any issues when he is older so we should not make him feel different by telling him that he is different. I don't know what we will do, but for the time being I am determined to enjoy him for the little star that he is, rather than continue with all the worry and anxiety I felt before he arrived. I too, gleaned much reassurance and empathy from members of this board and would like to thank Turtlemom, Triciah, Nordic, Stellaluv, My4thbaby personally amongst others (sorry if I have missed you out)! XXX

CiaranMum - 67 days ago.
Hi everyone. Finally I’m getting to sit down and post my story. I found this forum a great help last year when pregnant with my second son. We sailed through our first pregnancy, all scans were fine and our son was born healthy and is a happy 3yr old now. So on my second pregnancy off I went for my ‘big’ scan at 21 weeks and because they couldn’t get a full spine measurement they wanted me back for a further scan and it was at this stage ‘spina bifida’ was mentioned and sent me off in a major panic. So they scanned me again a few weeks later and noticed one of my Son’s vents measured 13mm!! They could see the full spine and luckily there wasn’t any sign of any abnormality there. Like everyone, I did so many searches on the internet under ‘unilateral ventriculmegaly’ and got caught up with all the measurements etc. To cut a long story short, the vent increased from 13mm – 15mm – 18mm and then settled at a high 20mm from 36 weeks of pregnancy. The Consultant (I’m from Ireland), ordered every test – Torch Screen (all negative),did blood tests on myself and husband to rule out allo-immune thrombocytopaenia – where you’re platelets can attack babies and cause a brain bleed (though usually shows up on first pregnancy with same partner) – again negative. She examined baby and didn’t think it was a chromosomal issue as nothing else showed up in baby’s brain or body. As you can imagine the last 10 weeks of pregnancy were so worrying for us. Anyway, our son Ciarán was born on 40wks (arrived within an hour of me getting to hospital). They did a cranial ultrasound that day and mentioned something about corpus callosum and when he was three weeks old they performed an MRI scan (this wasn’t offered to my while pregnant as it can be quite uncomfortable for Mother and doesn’t always reveal the full picture). The results of the MRI showed his ventricles seemed fine – just one slightly bigger, but no sign of hydrocephalus and that he has partial agenesis of corpus callosum. Blood test for chromosome and metabolic disorders revealed no issues. Well 14 months on, all I can say is that Ciarán has been a dream – from feeding in the early months to him walking now since 13mths (our first son was 16mths before taking first step). From our perspective, he is such an intelligent, happy child who has sailed through all his first milestones so far. His development is being monitored by a Neurologist over his first two years and so far all is great. The only thing he does is this mirror-image hand movement – when doing something with one hand, the other hand copies (my husband does this and his Father and so also my other son, so no big deal). So my story is very positive for all Mums-to-be out there who are told one of the ventricles is enlarged. Honestly if I get pregnant again and am told there is borderline unilateral ventriculomegaly – I wouldn’t worry at all. There hasn’t been enough research carried out to date on this whole area and it might just be ‘one of those things’. So please, try not to worry while pregnant and don’t delve too deep into all the research stories out there – just concentrate on you and baby – and best of luck!!

Havingfaith - 69 days ago.
Thankyou, my babys vents were 13-14mm 4 weeks ago, im not sure what to expect at my next scan, (im 30 weeks now) it is so stressful,i just want him in my arms and give him the biggest cuddle! i love him so so much, what hurts the most is knowing i cant do anything to make him better!!!

turtlemom - 69 days ago.
DHA is in most prescription prenatal vitamins in the US. It is also in a ton of baby food. Honestly, I really don't think it is a miracle supplement. I took it from Day 1 of being preggo and my daughter still had severe hydro. As it was stated before, it can't hurt. But, I don't want anyone to pin hopes on this or feel bad b/c they didn't take it. The truth is that most cases with mildly dilated vents (10mm to 13mm) wind up resolving by birth anyway. So, to all the moms out there with mild cases - you will be fine and chances are have a perfectly 'normal' baby (whatever that is).

susan29 - 69 days ago.
It's a DHA supplement that is supposed to support brain development.. not sure if it's in the UK but in the US you can find it at Walgreens, Rite Aid, Wal Mart usually by the prenatal vitamins... I started taking it when our baby was dx with an enlarged ventricle...her vent size went down to normal after 4 weeks.. I decided to stay on it while breastfeeding I figure it can't hurt :)

Havingfaith - 69 days ago.
what is Enfamil Expecta DHA supplement? is it in the uk? LinnyC that is fantastic news!!! i hope we hear our babys vents are normal at the next scan :'( xXx

linnyc1981 - 69 days ago.
hi everyone- a\i have an update to an amazing journey of creating life. well baby max had his mri - he was diasgnosed in utero with ventrimulgaly and hypoplasia of inferior vermis and are you ready for it - no ventrimulgaly was detected in MRI and his vermis is completely normal!! Yes no significant findings form MRi and drs words nothing to worry about. Apparenty there is a little cyst that is very common and usually disappears early so we have a follow up MRi later - all this worry and nothing was detected! We were told bub could have dandy wlaker, disabikites etc. and there is nothing wrong. To think again we were asked to determeinate. Although not massively releigious a priest came and gave little Max a blessing today - it was the most beautiful thing. He said Max's story was an insipiration and talked about the power of hope and faith!!!! i agree completely- please have hope in your little ones, dont doubt them!!! i only hope i can now pop in and give support to others going through this journey. i have made so many firends on here and am so thankful. Without your support i dont know if i could have stayed positive. i want to shout my story from the roof now so hopefully one day i can provide the support to someone else as you all did to me!! Now as for a different part of my stroy - i recently came out of hopsiatal for2nd time as i had an infected casear wound- not a normal infection a flesh eating bug - they removed 3kg from abdominal wall - i have 40 staples and a massive wound. But am home now on lots of anitbiotics to kill the bug - the joys of having children so many complications - i think i have definately had my fair share! but my little boy is worth every moment of fear, joy, pain etc. Although i do wish he didnt get stuck!

my4thbaby - 70 days ago.
Hi everyone. Sorry, I've not checked in here for a while. Hope you and your babas are all well. Hope (DX inutero with vm, and cerebellar hypoplasia), now has severe epilepsy, and is currently being tested for a rare metabolic disorder. If she (and I think she probably does) has one of these, it kinda explains a lot...I just wondered if there was anyone else out there who has a lil one dx with one of these disorders (apparently the brain anomolies are caused by the disorders). Much love Xxx ps Hope's has a blog at www.honkeyplonk.blogspot.com

babygirlontheway - 71 days ago.
Hi again! So I'm sitting here on this wonderful Saturday, about to have my baby shower today... and instead of focusing on enjoying myself, I'm looking things up--of course! I'm so confused on what to think, and I know it's my fault for not getting the MRI to make a conclusive diagnosis--but I was wondering how many of you actually do have doctors that are very experienced with this topic... it's nice to hear that Susan does... I wish I could say the same. I feel like my doctor has dealt with things like hydrocephalus, but when he told me he has never had to diagnose ACC before, it worried me. He's very intelligent, and has a lot of things to share with me--he shows me on the screen during the sonogram exactly what he sees, or really, what he does not see... explained to me that the 'corpus callosum should be here', and 'your baby's ventricles have the classic 'teardrop' configuration of ACC', 'the third ventricle is dilated', etc... etc... etc... I guess it makes sense--especially when he showed me how the third ventricle is enlarged (which really worries me). He says he's studied ACC, and I'm guessing he's diagnosing me based on what he's read in books! I just don't know how much I should trust him. I live in the very tip of Texas, aka the Rio Grande Valley (which is not well known for its health care, and I do not have access to many options down here as far as health care). A HUGE part of me is hoping that he is misdiagnosing her, and everything is going to ok... her growth is now practically perfect, and we cannot really tell anymore if her feet are clubbed because of her positioning. ACC is just so rare, that in his 20 years of practicing he's never even seen it... so why now? Why me?

susan29 - 71 days ago.
Jenna I am one of the mother's who's baby's enlarged ventricle went down to normal on its own... at 20 weeks I was told that one of her ventricles was borderline high at 10mm - luckily I have an excellent doctor that is educated about ventriculomegaly and he told me not to worry that a lot of times these things resolve on their own.. ofcourse I still worried.. at that time I went out and bought the Enfamil Expecta DHA supplement.. a lot of the mommies on this board did the same.. I ofcourse don't know if that helped but at my 24week ultrasound it had resolved itself! it was down to 7mm! I gave birth to my baby girl exactly 2 weeks ago and she is absolutely perfect! As a matter of fact she rolled over from her back to her belly at 4 days!! Please take the time to make an informed decision.. It doesn't sound like the Dr.'s you are dealing with know much about ventriculomegaly given that they are telling you that 10-11 mm is severe - please also take the time to read all of the wonderful positive stories on this board.. this board helped me more than words can say!