Ultrasound screening of a child under 3 years old (brain, heart, OCD)
What you need to know about ultrasound screening of a child under 3 years old (brain, heart, OCD)
Ultrasound screening of a child (brain, heart, OAB) is a study that allows you to assess the general condition and functionality of the abdominal organs, brain, and heart.
Ultrasound examination of the brain (neurosonography) is performed while the baby's large fontanel is open, sometimes it can be done a little later through some areas of the skull bones, where they are thinner and transmit ultrasound waves, but in this case the structures of the brain are visible much worse. The study makes it possible to see the structures of the brain, assess the state of blood flow and lymph flow. The child should be calm.
Indications for neurosonography are:
- prematurity (especially birth before 32 weeks of gestation with a body weight of less than 1500 g);
- neurological symptoms of brain damage;
- inflammatory brain diseases;
- traumatic brain injuries;
- hypoxic-ischemic lesions (conditions when the child's brain lacks oxygen);
- stigmata of dysembryogenesis (change in the number of fingers or toes, sandal-like foot, cleft of the upper lip, hard or soft palate, etc.).
Heart ultrasound (echocardiography)
Ultrasound of the heart (echocardiography) and includes ultrasound of the valves, cavities and internal structures of the heart, intracardiac blood flow, examination of the root and arch of the aorta, the valve and branches of the pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins and coronary vessels.
Indications for echocardiography are the presence of heart murmurs, cyanosis (blueness) of the child's skin, cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle when a newborn cries, and pediatricians' suspicions of a heart defect.
Ultrasound of the abdominal organs
Examination of the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal space includes ultrasound of the liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, and retroperitoneal space. Ultrasound of the kidneys, bladder, and ureters is often performed separately, which is useful in diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract.
If your baby was born on time, there were no problems during childbirth, and everything went smoothly in the first days of the child's life, then it is advisable to do the following at 1-1.5 months:
- neurosonography;
- Ultrasound of the hip joints;
- Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, kidneys and pelvis;
- echocardiography.
It is at 1-1.5 months that deviations that are not visible in the first days of life can be noticed and detected. As already noted, ultrasound examination is absolutely harmless, therefore the number and frequency of ultrasound examinations is not limited, and one organ can be examined up to several times during the day, for example, in case of internal organ injury. In the future, if your child has already had a full ultrasound and no pathology was detected, then there is no need to examine it prophylactically more than once a year.
Preparing for an ultrasound screening of a child
Ultrasound of the abdominal organs, neurosonography and echocardiography do not require special preparation. However, parents should be prepared to answer the doctor's questions about the child's exact height and weight - this is necessary to calculate the size of the organ. The parents' task also includes calming the child and explaining that no one will hurt him, he just needs to lie down quietly. And babies can be examined even while sleeping.
The abdominal organs: liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen are examined strictly on an empty stomach, because otherwise it is impossible to reliably assess the condition of the gallbladder, fragments of the stomach walls, as well as parts of the organs shielded by the contents of the stomach, primarily the pancreas and parts of the stomach. So preparation for ultrasound of the above organs includes basic rules: before ultrasound, you cannot drink, eat, brush your teeth, take medications, chew chewing gum, suck candy. If your child has a disease that requires hourly medication, notify the doctor and the ultrasound specialist who is referring you.