20th week scan shows echogenic kidneys

Question

I went for my 20wk scan yesterday. Everything was normal, except the doctor saw that the images of my baby kidneys were bright. They call this echogenic kidneys. Because of this, she wanted a repeat scan in two weeks time. She said this imaging could be either of two things. 1. A normal variant- which means on imaging, it looks slightly different but functionally baby kidneys are ok. 2. Suspected polycystic kidney disease- which is a rare genetic condition where there are numerous cysts in babys kidney, impairing  kidney function. The prognosis is bad and heartbreaking. At this stage nothing is confirmed. The doctor said if the repeat scan still shows echogenic kidneys, I can confirm w a genetic testing by amniocentesis and decide what to do from there. Or I could choose not to do amniocentesis and continue w the pregnancy, because it might after all be a normal variant. Both my husband and I have no family history of kidney disease but I am aware now, that we might be carriers of it, without having the condition. I feel upset but more so, I feel sorry for my baby at his prospects if this is all true. Does anyone have a similar experience? Please link me up if you know of anyone who has had a similar experience 🙏

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

hello! i think u dun have to worry so much. polycystic kidney is a rare condition which my husband is having now and runs in their family. if none of the family members has kidney failure and require kidney dialysis, then the chance of u n ur husband being carrier shld be almost 0%. my baby now has 50% chance of having this condition but our scan is perfectly normal. as this condition will not appear immediately but only when the child get older then the cysts will start forming, it is hard to know whether ur child has the condition at this moment, unless u do a genetic test. and actually this condition doesnt really affect the lifestyle in early years. my husband now 36 only had high blood pressure and has to take medication. then go for yearly scan and checkup. my FIL only start to have kidney failure and require dialysis in 50s. there is also ongoing research for cure for such condition. so i dont think u have to worry anything now. :)