7 Responses to “What to do about an abnormal 2nd trimester ultrasound of an echogenic intracardiac focus?”

1. 23 weeks- due march 14th #1 says:

   April 24, 2010 at 3:21 pm

   This website says that EIF is found in 3 to 5 % of normal pregnancies.
2. Poppy: 35 weeks says:

   April 24, 2010 at 3:53 pm

   I wouldn’t worry. Especially because your first trimester screening was normal. For something like that they wouldn’t offer amnio unless there were other markers for chromosomal abnormalities.
3. CherishTheMoment says:

   April 24, 2010 at 4:43 pm

   I just read up on it a little and I think I would push the issue and ask for a follow up and the amnio. It would give you a peace of mind. The article I’m reading is talking about Down Syndrome. http://www.obfocus.com/high-risk/birthdefects/EIF.htm
4. NUGirl. Due 3/14/09 says:

   April 24, 2010 at 5:32 pm

   According to wikipedia (not an expert source) “This is thought to represent mineralization, or small deposits of calcium, in the muscle of the heart. EIFs are found in about 3-5% of normal pregnancies and cause no health problems.EIFs themselves have no impact on health or heart function. Often the EIF is gone by the third trimester. ”

   According to OB Focus (more medical): “These bright spots are most often a normal variant and have no significant effect on the development of the heart. EIF may be seen in up to 30, 6, and 11 % of Asian, black, and white fetuses respectively.” The reason some people are concerned is because baby’s with Downs also have a slightly higher rate of EIFs.

   I am no medical specialist, but no matter what the problem: always trust your instincts. If you do not feel satisfied that the “do nothing” recommendation from your 20 wk ultrasound is the right one, pursue a second opinion. Look for documentation on authoritative sites that support that an EIF finding may be cause for concern and see if your doctor will advocate for a follow up ultrasound and whether insurance will cover it if recommended.

   Before you pursue more invasive (and potentially, although rarely, dangerous for fetus) procedures like amnio, try a second opinion with a non-invasive second ultrasound or other non-invasive test, if available.

   Also, discuss at length with your provider IF the EIF was a signal that something was wrong (rather than a normal finding, which most are) what specifically might it signal? How would knowing those things affect the care of the rest of your pregnancy? Would it mean they would want to induce you and have a neonatal surgery team standing by? then it is probably worth pursuing to know more precisely. But if it means the child might maybe might have Downs and that would not change your decision to continue the pregnancy nor the prenatal care you would receive, then it is probably better to avoid potentially harmful invasive procedures, but that it ultimately a decision only you can make.
5. Denise says:

   April 24, 2010 at 5:48 pm

   we had something come up on our ultrasound and it’s scary when you start looking it up. my doctor told me that they have to tell you when things come up but that most often, they tend to resolve themselves. in our case, another ultrasound a week and a half later showed it had resolved itself. there’s still a lot going on with your baby right now and they are growing and developing at an impressive rate. your ultrasound may have just caught something in the development that will go away on its own.

   trust me, if it was really something bad they would have told you right then and there. if it was something they wanted to keep an eye on just in case, they would have told you when to schedule a follow up ultrasound. unless they’re really incompetent, they usually tell you what is going on and what the course of action is- they don’t just leave you hanging in the dark wondering if you should have an amnio,

   talk to your doctor. she/he will be able to give you an honest assessment of what is going on and what, if anything, you should do about it.
6. kerbea08 says:

   April 24, 2010 at 6:17 pm

   We had this same exact thing happen to us when I was 18 weeks pregnant. I am such a worrier because I am in nursing school so I knew a lot about chromosomal abnormalities anyways. This particular thing is an extremely small marker for downs syndrome. Which when I read that was still making me go crazy until I read up on all the stats of an EIF. It is extremely rare that your baby with have downs syndrome if this is the only marker found, and if all of your blood work came back good. I was still contemplating getting an amnio but the death rate on a fetus after an amnio in 1 in 200. The chance my doctor gave me of my baby having a chromosomal abnormality was 1 in 5000, and then they had to reduce that number to 1 in 2500 due to the EIF. Which is still a very slim chance. I was still so confused on what to do until I was reading about personal stories regaurding EIF’s. There was this one mom who had heard the same thing, and decided that she just couldn’t wait another 20 weeks until the baby was born so she went ahead with the amnio. Due to complications after the procedure, the baby had to be born at 22 weeks. The baby only lived 18 minutes and then passed away. When they had done the genetic testing on the baby, the results came back negative for any abnormalities. So the baby would have had a normal life if it had gone to term. It made me so sad that I knew I couldnt do the amnio. I cant tell you what to do, but I know when I was up for countless nights researching this, I just needed someone who knew what I was going through. I wish you and your family all the luck in the world. Im sure it will be fine. They say that EIFS are more commonly found these days because the technology is far more advanced. So it may be even more common then they thing. Also the EIF has zero effect on the function of the fetal heart. Some studies feel that it is such a small marker that they dont even correlate it with Downs. Ill be praying for you.
7. jneecy says:

   April 24, 2010 at 6:40 pm

   TAKE PRENATAL VITAMINS AND DON’T STRESS YOURSELF!!! I just and a preemie at 6 1/2 months on 09/27 that passed sadly 10/18.I had the same problems with my ultrasound screening.Unfortunately my little one still had abnormal heart Doppler’s after the 2nd screening so i was admitted to the hospital twice in 3 weeks.just make sure to keep fluids and iron.