Friday, May 18, 2007
Preliminary, differential diagnosis...
So we just got off the phone with our Doctor-- They had their case review with the entire practice this morning, and the general consensus is that this is a 'ranula' which is a cyst formed by an obstructed salivary gland under the tongue. There is an interesting synopsis of this condition here.
Overall, this is a pretty positive diagnosis, as these aren't typically associated with any other kind of birth defects or syndromes, and the treatment can be very successful. They also reiterated that the facial development (nose, lip, palate, jaw, etc.) was all just fine.
Because this is a 'differential diagnosis' (medical speak for a best guess when weighing all the options) things could change radically. However, if this indeed proves to be the correct diagnosis, we will need to monitor the size of the cyst as all the treatment options will hinge on how it behaves. Treatment could include regularly draining off amniotic fluid if the cyst grows large enough to interfere with swallowing, surgeries at birth (intubation to allow breathing if it interferes w/ that, and surgery to remove the cyst immediately or within a couple days after birth), and if it gets really bad then in-utero surgery to try and reduce the size of the cyst. Of course, as we get more info other treatment options might be considered.
In any event, this was about the most positive diagnosis we could have at this point, and now we just have to monitor things to see how the situation will unfold.
Overall, this is a pretty positive diagnosis, as these aren't typically associated with any other kind of birth defects or syndromes, and the treatment can be very successful. They also reiterated that the facial development (nose, lip, palate, jaw, etc.) was all just fine.
Because this is a 'differential diagnosis' (medical speak for a best guess when weighing all the options) things could change radically. However, if this indeed proves to be the correct diagnosis, we will need to monitor the size of the cyst as all the treatment options will hinge on how it behaves. Treatment could include regularly draining off amniotic fluid if the cyst grows large enough to interfere with swallowing, surgeries at birth (intubation to allow breathing if it interferes w/ that, and surgery to remove the cyst immediately or within a couple days after birth), and if it gets really bad then in-utero surgery to try and reduce the size of the cyst. Of course, as we get more info other treatment options might be considered.
In any event, this was about the most positive diagnosis we could have at this point, and now we just have to monitor things to see how the situation will unfold.
Labels: rowan
