narrow ureter - any advice?

[jenninjapan]

Not sure where to post this so will x post for as much advice as possible.

At DDs 4 week check up they did an ultrasound on her and found that her right ureter at her kidney was enlarged and narrow at her bladder.  The left ureter is totally fine.  She pees fine and often enough that without the ultrasound no one would have ever thought to go looking for this.  She is perfectly healthy. BUT I have been referred to a specialist to investigate this 'problem'.  Anybody else had this come up on an ultrasound?  What did you do? Any treatment?  I would really like to skip this appointment altogether.

Bit of history.....I mostly did a UP because I was refused by 4 obstetricians (would not schedule a repeat section so no one wanted me as a patient) but did get a 32 week scan. That is when a dr said my daughter had a narrow ureter (in utero).  I am not a big fan of ultrasound and so didnt give it much thought.  My home birth did not go as planned and I ended up with a section.  Because of my UP the dr.s at the hospital took my baby, placed her in the NICU on antibiotics  - the reason being I didnt receive 'proper pre-natal care' and she 'had an infection'.  8 days later all tests came back negative and she was totally fine. As I always knew and as she always was.  there was never an infection. So I have little trust or faith in dr.s at all.

[MoonWillow]

Hi there. I see that you cross posted in Dr. Bob's forum. We don't like to host cross posted threads but since only the expert can reply in that forum I'll let it go.

I just wanted to let you know for future reference. I'm also going to move this over to Health and Healing. I hope everything works out for your dd. 

[JudiAU]

My niece had a similar condition. They caught it on the first infection and were lucky that she had no permamnat damage. She had to take many rounds of antibiotics and eventually have a small but very delicate surgery. Today, she has a minor loss of sensation. At ten, she has to follow a bathroom schedule just in case. This was known in advance and the surgery and all in all, considered a huge success to the alternative.

 I would really plan on keeping your appointment. I understand the risk is of repeated urinary tract infections that can lead to permament damage.

[paxye]

I would get it checked out.

My dd has a congenital malformation of her right ureter near the where the ureter enters the bladder. We only found out when it was almost too late. It doesn't sound like much but what can happen is that urine can back up into the ureter and the kidney and cause inflammation and hydronephrosis/hydroureter. UTI's can also be a problem (my dd never had signs of a UTI), but more importantly the kidney can become infected and because of the malformation and inflammation, the kidney can close off and basically act like an abscess with puss building up and not being able to be treated with antibiotics...  if that happens, it would need to be treated with more invasive techniques and can also lead to Kidney failure. 

It sounds scary... but this is exactly what is happening to my daughter at the moment...

We didn't know... I never had an ultrasound and I don't regret that at all as it may or may not have been picked up on.

However, talking with others that have been through it, what my daughter is going through is exactly what all the tests and the preventative measures will be trying to avoid. The great news is that many obstructions can correct themselves especially if they are not too severe, but sometimes the ureter needs to be fixed and re-implanted into the bladder which is a permanent fix.