Persistent Right Umbilical Vein

Hi all,

Just had our 20 week anatomy scan today and we were told that baby has a persistent right umbilical vein. We had no issues like this with DS. The radiologist said the rest of the scan looked okay but she is sending me for a fetal echo and a repeat scan in 4-5 weeks to check the growth and development of baby's organs.

Even though she said that when this is an isolated finding, it usually means nothing, I'm still freaking out.

Anyone encounter this in their own pregnancies? Did your babe have any issues as a result?

Re: Persistent Right Umbilical Vein

I was in the same situation three years ago at my 20 week also. They told us that most likely everything should be ok but with our age it was a potential marker for Down syndrome. From what I understood, it's pretty rare. They sent us for the fetal echo at 22 weeks and we had the MaterniT21 blood test done. Honestly, the worst part was waiting the 10 days to get the results but I think we got them sooner than 10 days. My daughter is a healthy 3 year old and we never had any problems relating to it. Positive thoughts to you. It's easy for people to say not to worry, but you know it's the natural thing to do. Positive vibes and let me know if you have any questions,

Re: Persistent Right Umbilical Vein

I had this with my first daughter who is now a happy and healthy among 3 year old. They said it was a soft marker for genetic and cardiac issues so we had to get a fetal echo done to make sure. The cardiologist we went to said everything looked fine and not to worry. He also mentioned that he now has a lot of pregnant woman come in with this and most of the time it's nothing and that the reason why he is seeing more patients is because our sonogram technology is so much more advance than it used to be but the data isn't there yet to truly know what is/isn't a soft marker. As such he said in a few years this may no longer even be considered a soft marker after they have more results from patients. Best of luck and try not to stress.