3/24/12

What is the "Lemon Sign"

The Lemon Sign (LS) refers to the top-down appearance of the of the shape of a baby's head when seen through an ultrasound. In other words, when an ultrasound looks at a cross-section of the baby's head from the top, two indentations can appear on either side of the forehead above the eyes. This gives the head a shape similar to that of a lemon.


Don't worry! Your child's head will be just as round and shapely as a typical child's once he/she is born. Its just that it appears lemon-shaped on the ultrasound at a certain point in development.

The reason why this temporary LS matters is that it typically goes hand-in-hand with a diagnosis of Spina Bifida and so it serves as one more confirming form of evidence.

2 comments:

  1. So, does it mean that healthy fetus may also have lemon shape at certain point of development in the womb?

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  2. My understanding is that just having the "Lemon Sign" by itself does not automatically mean there will be any sort of disability. Keep in mind, some people have such a minor case of SB that they don't even know they have it (Fpor example, the singer/songwriter John Cougar has SB). I would encourage you to pose your question to SB Kids on BabyCenter - it is an amazing community! http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a3825/spina_bifida_kids

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