What should I do if my baby has a cyst in his brain?

At 18 weeks of pregnancy, the examination showed uterine fibroids. The fetus was in the position of bilateral lateral ventricle choroid plexus cysts, and there was some separation of the left kidney. Pregnant women will go to the hospital for a three-dimensional color ultrasound. The doctor will also recommend that you do a chromosome test. The echo of the choroid plexus in the bilateral lateral ventricles was uneven. So how should we treat this kind of fetal brain cyst?

Brain cysts generally refer to arachnoid cysts, which are bag-like structures formed by cerebrospinal fluid-like cysts surrounded by the arachnoid membrane. There are two types: congenital and secondary. The former is the most common arachnoid cyst, and the latter is caused by intracranial inflammation, craniocerebral trauma or after surgery.

The clinical manifestations are related to the location of the cyst. Common locations include: lateral fissure, pontocerebellar region, temporal pole, quadrigeminal region, cerebellar vermis, sellar region and suprasellar region, between bilateral hemispheres, cerebral apophysis, slope, etc. Most lesions show symptoms in early childhood, including: symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, etc.; epilepsy; skull bulge; space-occupying effect causing local symptoms or signs. Suprasellar cysts can also manifest as hydrocephalus, developmental delay, precocious puberty, visual impairment, etc. The condition worsens due to cyst rupture and bleeding into the cyst or subarachnoid space.

Arachnoid cysts without mass effect or mass do not require treatment regardless of their size or location, but they should be followed up regularly. Surgical treatment is mostly used for patients with symptoms and cyst tension. Surgical methods include cyst-peritoneal shunt, endoscopic cyst drainage and cyst wall resection, and craniotomy to remove part of the cyst wall to connect the cyst to the surrounding brain cisterns.

Brain cyst is a benign tumor formed by the brain and its appendages. The degree of its occurrence and the symptoms it presents are different. Mainly because of its large size, it can easily cause compression on the brain. Most children with cysts basically do not have any symptoms, and most of the cysts are single.