Pediatric Hydrops Fetalis Follow-up

Updated: Jul 25, 2017
  • Author: Ashraf H Hamdan, MD, MBBCh, MSc, MRCP, FAAP; Chief Editor: Dharmendra J Nimavat, MD, FAAP  more...
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Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

Note the following:

  • If the precipitating cause was profound anemia, red cell survival may remain reduced in patients with isoimmune hemolytic anemia, and red cell production may be impaired in the fetus or newborn who has received multiple red cell transfusions.

  • If the cause of hydrops fetalis was a treatable infection, assurance of total eradication of the offending agent is obviously necessary.

  • In situations in which multiple anomalies and/or chromosomal abnormalities are present, family counseling and consultation with a medical geneticist are recommended.

  • Follow-up measures targeted toward the specific pathophysiologic disturbances present in individual cases may be required (eg, any baby who has experienced a compromised perinatal period).

  • Despite the profound compromise in perfusion and fetal function of multiple organ systems in the fetus with hydrops, the limited follow-up data that are currently available provide an unexpectedly optimistic outlook for babies who survive fetal hydrops.