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A conundrum from antenatal testing
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Mild cerebral ventriculomegaly is usually defined as an atrial width of 1015 mm measured by ultrasound between 15 and 40 weeks gestation. Estimates of incidence vary from 1.48 per 1000 to 22 per 1000.1
In a series of 234 cases, 23% had an abnormal outcome as summarised below2:
- Perinatal death 3.7%.
- Chromosomal abnormalities (mostly trisomy 21) 3.8%.
- Malformations undetected at second trimester ultrasound scan 8.6%.
- Neurological sequelae 11.5%.
Most of the neurological sequelae involved a mild to moderate delay in cognitive and/or motor development. No clinical sequelae occurred in the remaining 77% of cases of isolated mild ventriculomegaly.
The counselling of parents of a fetus with isolated mild ventriculomegaly is complicated by the fact that it is not always possible to predict the fetus that will have abnormal neurological sequelae. The parents should therefore be informed about the possible causes, their prognosis, and the techniques available to help reach
Relevant Article
- A conundrum from antenatal testing
- M Cameron, G Cumming, P Smith
Postgrad. Med. J. 2003 79: 478-479.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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