Hydronephrosis is the most common disorder identified in babies during prenatal ultrasounds.
This prenatal condition causes kidney swelling due to a buildup of fluid.
In severe cases, the baby isn’t urinating, and urine can back up in the body and compress kidney tissue. After birth, the baby may need invasive tests, antibiotics or surgery. But most of the time, doctors only need to monitor the condition, and it clears up on its own by the time the baby is six months old.
“Almost all of these kids, you can assure the families that everything’s going to be OK,” says pediatric urologist C.D. Anthony Herndon, MD.
Learn more about this prenatal kidney condition in this week’s podcast.