^&Perinatology Unit, Carabobo University, Valencia - Venezuela. UPUC@hotmail.com
Nashville, TN

These are 2 cases in which an early examination revealed an abdominal cyst (some with other associated findings), and in all cases the cysts disappeared and the newborns were considered normal on physical examinations and follow-up.

Case #1:

13 weeks Abdominal thick wall cyst confused as a megabladder Chorionic villus biopsy :46XX normal  

19 weeks 1 week after total cyst aspiration. (Fluid: few epithelial cells+ lymphocytes) Normal intestinal pattern.  

26 weeks Normal growth and amniotic fluid Abdominal calcifications  

Case #2:

This is a 11 weeks 5 days fetus with a large abdominal cyst and an increased nuchal lucency of 4.3 mm. An early amniocentesis was performed at 12 weeks with normal karyotype. At 14 weeks 2 days a small cyst was seen next to the stomach, and by 20 weeks there was no trace left of the cyst. The postnatal follow-up up to 2 years is unremarkable.

14 weeks 2 days exam: only a small cyst is seen next to the stomach

It was suspected, but not proven, that this cyst had a lymphatic origin.

Although the nature of those cysts is undetermined, these cases points to the fact that at least occasionally the presence of even a large cystic structure may not have much influence on the fetus.