Slightly Dilated Kidney in 21 Week US

Updated on March 18, 2010
J.M. asks from Arlington, TX
7 answers

Last week I had an US and during my prenatal visit the OB said one of his kidneys was slightly dilated. She repeatedly said this is nothing to worry over and that we would do a repeat US in 4 weeks. Has anyone had any experience with this? I am trying not to worry like she said, but that's a little bit hard sometimes.

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A.W.

answers from Amarillo on

This happened at my 20 week sono with my 3rd baby. At the follow up everything was normal and they said that on the first sono they most likely had snapped the pic right when urine was passing through. Nothing to worry about!

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T.T.

answers from Dallas on

Yes! I had the exact same thing with my 2nd child! His kidneys stayed dialted throughout the pregnancy. Once he was born they did a test on him to make sure that he did not have kidney reflux and then repeated it a few months later. He is perfectly normal and has absolutely no problems! I know it sounds scary, but I'm sure he will be just fine! FYI - they told me it is much more common with boys than girls for some reason.

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A.H.

answers from Boston on

My son had that problem early in the pregnancy, I had no idea what it meant really. They did a follow up US later on, I think around 30 weeks, and his kidney was fine. It was only slightly dilated and by the end of the pregnancy it was normal. I wouldn't worry about it.

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E.A.

answers from Atlanta on

This happened with our son (4 months old now). It's incredibly common (about 1 in 750). Try to take a deep breath. They did a follow-up at 32 weeks, it was still dilated, and we had to go every week after that to see if it was getting bigger and meet with a pediatric urologist. The upside was that they checked all of his other systems so we knew everything else was okay. We ended up inducing early because of medical reasons with me. They did an ultrasound when he was a month old, then a kidney scan, and followed up with the urologist. What we know now is that the right kidney doesn't work, but the left one's fine. Again - this is very common and doesn't negatively affect his health (other than that he can't play contact sports or go into the military). We just have to follow up every six months with another ultrasound. They won't do anything unless it gets bigger. Feel free to email me if you want to talk more about it.

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A.H.

answers from Dallas on

Hey, I know exactly how its so hard not to worry!! We too, went through this....my son's left kidney was slightly dilated at 20 weeks and we had to go back at i believe 30 weeks to see if it was still dilated....it was, so after he was born we had another scan...still dilated, so we did another at 6 months still dilated....hes a year old now and the last one we did, which was about a month ago show's that its starting to finally clear up! Hope this helps, enjoy your pregnancy!!

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C.Z.

answers from Dallas on

I know it is hard not to worry, but it sounds like it is a good scenario for you. My son had one kidney very dialated during pregnancy. I had to have ultrasounds every 6 weeks with him to make sure that at least 1 of the kidneys was working. Luckily it was and I carried him to term with no issues. After he was born, we then had to monitor him for about a year and he had surgery to correct his problem kidney. He has been great since then! But it seems that you are not even to that point. Take it one step at a time, he should be FINE!

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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

It's very common. It's nothing really to worry about.

My son had dilation in both kidneys. At 2 weeks, they did an ultrasound and found a uterus seal. He had surgery at 4 weeks (no incision), and will be having another surgery in a year. He is fine, feels no pain, and is in perfect health otherwise.

Also, in many cases the problems will correct themselves with no medical intervention. In fact, I think this is the case for the majority of cases. So don't worry. It really will be OK.

BTW, I carried him to term with no issues and did a home birth.

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