Kidney Dilation

Biajee took Arthur for ultrasound yesterday on his kidney dilation problem spotted when I was 28 weeks pregnant.

The nurse called me today and said Dr. C recommended that we take Arthur to a urologist as soon as possible to diagnose. Hydronephrosis is the term and we need to take the disc of the ultrasound to the urologist.

Biajee has scheduled it for March 5th in Littleton. We are quite paranoid these days, wondering whether Arthur's kidney is fine or not. The urologists Dr. Cavanaugh recommended wouldn't take our insurance so Biajee scheduled the appointment with Dr. Wilcox, who is the chair of Colorado Pediatrics Urology.

Hydronephrosis has never been linked to anything the parents have done during pregnancy and is usually not passed from parent to child or found in more than one sibling in a family. The blockage that produces hydronephrosis is usually the result of a narrowing at the top of the ureter near the kidney that probably developed before the fourth month of pregnancy.

The severity of hydronephrosis depends on the extent of the blockage and the amount of stretching of the kidney. Hydronephrosis may range from mild to severe. Children with mild hydronephrosis usually do not have symptoms, the kidneys are minimally affected, and the hydronephrosis may disappear in the first year of life.