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Me again. DD's brain scan showed a "bright area", not sure what this means?

7 replies

minipie · 08/11/2012 21:15

So, my feeding issues with DD (other thread) have now been superseded by a bigger worry.

She had a routine brain ultrasound yesterday (they give them to all premature babies) and today I was told it showed a bright area on one side. The doctor's English was not great but I think he said that this can indicate a bleed or a past bleed (??). He said they can sometimes go away and they will rescan in a week and then in 3-4 weeks ie at term. He also mentioned follow up monitoring over the next year or so, I think.

So now I am trying to find out how common this is, how often does it go away, does it mean brain damage, etc etc. It's very hard to find much information though.

Has anyone else experienced this, or have any information? Thank you

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ClosedAuraOpenMind · 08/11/2012 21:23

Hi there, my DD had an ultrasound when she was a few days old, which showed some bright spots (she was sick when born but not prem) the consultant in the picu told us 'it could be something or it could be nothing'
She had an MRI scan in her brain when she was about 3 weeks old and all was normal. I know it's hard, but try not to worry, all could be fine. Fingers crossed for you

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EyeoftheStorm · 08/11/2012 21:29

DS2 had severe bleeds on the brain. It was picked up and monitored and managed really well by his doctors. I think severe bleeds are quite uncommon although many premature babies have grade 1 or 2. These usually resolve without any problems.

I know this feels like another blow on top of all the others, but - and I couldn't get my head around it when it happened to us - there is nothing to be done except monitor it.

DS2's bleeds were grade 3 and he is 3 now and hitting all his milestones. But I well remember the worry and fear. I hope this is reassuring rather than frightening. DS2's doctors told us from the beginning that the bleeds were bad so the fact that they haven't said that is good.

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minipie · 08/11/2012 21:45

thank you both, that does give me some comfort. I have no idea what grade hers are but will ask. I think I need to speak to a different doctor as I find it very hard to get answers from the one I have spoken to.

Thanks for the sympathy too! much appreciated.

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sannaville · 17/11/2012 16:21

My dd has a white patch/bright spot on scan at birth they rescanned three months later (as they forgot to do it a week later!!!) And although it was still there they said was back within a normal range

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thereonthestair · 19/11/2012 17:01

baby ultrasounds are a very blunt instruments and so i reiterate try not to worry

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psychgradmatt · 17/03/2020 21:13

Hi guys,

I know this is an old thread, but I’d be interested in finding out what the outcome was from the original author and others who have had this.

Our MCDA (sharing one placenta) twin boys arrived yesterday morning at 34+1 weeks and today we found out that both have bright spots on their ultrasound head scans. Very much like how the original author described.

Our elation soon turned into complete anxiety and dread. We are now just waiting. The doctor (not the best English speaker) said the only way to find out if there’s any long term damage will be to check milestones from now until 2 years!

We’re just really worried....

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minipie · 14/04/2020 20:57

I just happened to be in this section and saw your post @psychgradmatt. Hope you see this reply, I’m the OP.

Our daughter hit all her early milestones and was signed off at 1.5 years. At that point we believed there were no long term effects of her early birth or brain bleed. However at around age 3 we noticed she was lagging behind physically in various ways. To cut a long story short she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy age 4, confirmed by a brain MRI showing damage. It is very mild and most people wouldn’t know she has it. Intellectually she is unaffected (very bright in fact), physically she is a little affected but can still run round the playground, bike, swim etc, just finds it a little harder. Emotionally she is pretty volatile which is probably half CP and half genetics Grin. To sum up, yes she is affected, but it’s nothing like the disaster scenario I was picturing back when I posted the OP.

I also gather it is possible for these spots to show at newborn stage and turn into nothing at all - no long term effects whatsoever.

I hope this helps.

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