If your baby's ultrasound showed a Choroid Plexus Cyst...?

Question

I am rather worried as I just got the findings a few hours ago. There were no other anomalies found, thankfully, and I am to have another u/s soon. It is just a bit scary to hear your baby has a cyst on her brain. I am curious to know how many of you went through this and whether it resolved spontaneously or not. Would you please share your experience with me?

Answer 1

Do NOT worry. Seriously. They told me the same thing at my 19 week ultrasound. I thought I was going to die just hearing of anything being on his brain. I drove myself mad thinking about it until the follow up ultrasound. My doctor assured me 100 times that she has yet to deliver a baby where the CPC did not go away during the third trimester. And when we went back and were told that it had in fact disappeared, the tech told me that even if it hadn't it would not affect him whatsoever. I guarantee you it will resolve itself in 2 weeks.  

Answer 2

yeah my son had them in the first US, we were very worried.  but they went away by the next US and he is a happy, healthy 7.5 month old.

they told me it was very common and if there are no other abnormalities it is most likely nothing.  they usually suggest having the triple screen though if they do see them.  if you have not had it already you may want to just so you feel better.

Answer 3

What is a Choroid Plexus Cyst?

The choroid plexus is an area of the brain that is not involved thinking or personality. Rather, the choroid plexus makes a fluid that protects and nourishes the brain and spinal cord. When a fluid-filled space is seen in the choroid plexus during an ultrasound, it is called a choroid plexus cyst (CPC). "We don't know why, but between 1 and 3 percent of all fetuses will manifest a CPC at 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy," says Dr. Roy A. Filly, a Professor of Radiology and of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and Chief of the Section of Diagnostic Sonography at University of California, San Francisco. CPCs can be found either on one side of the brain (unilateral) or both sides (bilateral). They can vary in size and shape, from small and round to large and irregular. Some fetuses have more than one.

Regardless of their number, shape or size, choroid plexus cysts are not harmful to the baby. "I am not aware of a single instance where a CPC caused damage to a fetus," says Dr. Filly.

Dr. Peter Doubilet, a Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, agrees, "That's one very important fact. CPCs are not harmful, and they nearly always go away by the third trimester of pregnancy."

If CPCs are found during an ultrasound, the radiologist will scrutinize every organ and body part to look for other abnormalities, such as a malformed heart, head, hands or feet, and stunted growth of the baby. When no other abnormalities are found, the diagnosis is called an "isolated CPC."

The Significance of an Isolated CPC

If CPCs do not cause any damage, why does anyone worry about them? The problem is really one of association—being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Wrong or right, CPCs have become associated with a severe genetic disease called Trisomy 18. It is well documented that about half of babies with Trisomy 18 show a CPC on ultrasound. But Dr. Bronsteen from the Division of Fetal Imaging at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan points out, "Nearly all babies with Trisomy 18 who have a CPC have other abnormalities on the ultrasound, especially in the heart, hand, and foot." The real question arises when a baby has a CPC with nothing else wrong: the "isolated CPC."

This is where the experts cannot precisely agree. "The vast majority of fetuses with [isolated] CPCs are completely normal, but when CPCs are seen, the chance of Trisomy 18 goes up," says Dr. Doubilet, "This risk is still very small: about 1 in 300." This means that if 300 fetuses have isolated CPCs, only one of them will have Trisomy 18. "While the risk is small, it is higher than the risk of approximately 1 in 3,000 among all pregnant women," points out Dr. Doubilet. Other doctors have reservations: "The problem with this research is that it studied a high-risk population instead of the general population of pregnant women," says Dr. Filly. "I have no instance in 25 years of experience of an isolated CPC indicating Trisomy 18."

Dr. Bronsteen notes, "You need to ask if the person doing the ultrasound exam has the expertise to look for all the abnormalities that are seen with Trisomy 18. In the dozen years we've been tracking it, we did have some babies with an diagnosis of isolated CPC turn out to have Trisomy 18, but in all those cases we did not get a complete look at the baby." His own research indicates that it is very important for the sonographer to view the baby's hands before concluding that the CPC is isolated.

This debate among experts can leave parents bewildered. But even if an isolated CPC does mean an increased risk, that risk is still extremely small. The take-home message? If a CPC is found with no other warning signs, the outcome is virtually always positive.

What Parents Can Do

When a baby is diagnosed with a CPC, there are several things that parents can do. After consultation with their doctor, they will usually undergo a Level II ultrasound. This is a detailed ultrasound exam that is targeted to look for fetal abnormalities. It's important not to rely on the results of a scan performed in a doctor's office or a scan done by someone who is not a trained expert in detecting abnormalities by ultrasound. Only after this kind of intense scan can the diagnosis of an isolated CPC be truly confirmed.

Once other abnormalities besides the CPC have been ruled out, there are two things parents can do: watch and wait, or have an amniocentesis. An amniocentesis is the only way to know for sure before birth that the baby does not have a genetic disease. But even though an amnio can give a sure answer, it carries its own risk. About one in 250 women will miscarry her baby after an amnio, regardless of whether the baby is healthy or not.

The other option is to watch and wait. Generally the doctor will track the progress of the fetus through several follow up ultrasound examinations. Most CPCs will resolve on their own by the sixth month of pregnancy, and a defin