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What Causes Lack Of Fetus In Sac On Pregnancy Scan?
hi, well its a quick one really i had my first scan yesterday and the nurse said the there was a sac but no baby im very early in my pregnancy only about 8 weeks from by own dates. i have got to go for another scan in two weeks has there been any chances of the baby just hiden or have i deffinitly lost it? thankyou
Fri, 6 Nov 2015
Hello, and I hope I can help you today.
Seeing just a gestational sac without a fetus or fetal pole is not normal at 8 weeks gestation. If the sac is small (less than 2 cm) there is a possibility that the pregnancy is just younger than you expect and that a fetus could still develop.
However if the sac is of sufficient size (over 1.5-2cm) and there is no fetus present it is most likely an early pregnancy failure (miscarriage that has not yet come out). Correlation with your preganacy hormone levels can also give more information.
However, it cannot hurt to wait and see another 2 weeks just to make sure, as not every pregnancy follows the expected patterns of development. But you should be prepared as the greatest likelihood is that this is not a normal pregnancy if the sac is large enough.
One in 10 pregnancies end in miscarriage, and nothing can be done to prevent one if a fetus never develops in the first place. However, that means that if you try again, 90% of the time everything will be fine.
I hope I was able to answer your question and this advice was reassuring.
Best of luck for the rest of the pregnancy, Dr. Brown
Seeing just a gestational sac without a fetus or fetal pole is not normal at 8 weeks gestation. If the sac is small (less than 2 cm) there is a possibility that the pregnancy is just younger than you expect and that a fetus could still develop.
However if the sac is of sufficient size (over 1.5-2cm) and there is no fetus present it is most likely an early pregnancy failure (miscarriage that has not yet come out). Correlation with your preganacy hormone levels can also give more information.
However, it cannot hurt to wait and see another 2 weeks just to make sure, as not every pregnancy follows the expected patterns of development. But you should be prepared as the greatest likelihood is that this is not a normal pregnancy if the sac is large enough.
One in 10 pregnancies end in miscarriage, and nothing can be done to prevent one if a fetus never develops in the first place. However, that means that if you try again, 90% of the time everything will be fine.
I hope I was able to answer your question and this advice was reassuring.
Best of luck for the rest of the pregnancy, Dr. Brown
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