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Maternal (Expert Forum)
Downs Syndrome and cystic hygromas
Patient medical question and answer from The Maternal and Child Health Forum. Health topic area and articles about newborn care
Downs Syndrome and cystic hygromas
by Marita__0, Nov 23, 1998 12:00AM
During a recent ultrasound, the doc said he detected nuchal cystic hygromas.
He indicated that this detection with my age of 41 was a strong indication
that I might have a Downs baby. Presently I am 11 weeks pregnant. I can't
seem to find any additional information on cystic hygromas. Can you point
me in a good direction or give me more info? I am scheduled for an amnio
in a few weeks to hopefully rule out Downs but meanwhile I want to understand
everything that is going on. Thank you.
Dear Marita:
Cystic hygroma is a developmental anomaly that is associated with an abnormal karyotype in 70% of cases. Turner's syndrome (45 X, loss on one of the X chromosomes) and Down syndrome (an extra #21 chromosome) are the common associations. Cystic hygroma can be found with a normal karyotype.
The cysts normally grow smaller during pregnancy. The soft tissue neck swelling is differentiated from an hemangioma (blood vessel tumor) by a doppler ultrasound study.
Keywords: cystic hygroma
This information is provided for education purposes and is not a medical consultation. If you have specific question,s please contact your physician.
