Fetal pyelectasis: is it always "physiologic"?

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the degree of fetal pyelectasis predictive of neonatal renal pathologic processes.

Study Design: Eighty-four cases of pyelectasis were identified during the study period (1989 through 1993). Fetuses with anteroposterior diameter of the renal pelvis > or = 4 mm before 33 weeks or > or = 7 mm after 33 weeks without caliectasis were included.

Prenatal diagnosis and therapy for a fetal hepatic vascular malformation.

Background: Congenital hepatic arteriovenous malformations complicated by high-output heart failure and hematologic derangements are associated with up to 90% mortality. Prenatal diagnosis alerts the pediatrician to the need for early neonatal intervention.

Case: A fetal hepatic arteriovenous malformation with associated high-output cardiac failure was diagnosed at 29 weeks' gestation using real-time and color flow Doppler sonography.

Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of a third ventricle choroid plexus papilloma.

We report a case of fetal hydrocephalus secondary to a third ventricle choroid plexus papilloma detected by ultrasound at 33 weeks' gestation. The prenatal sonographic and colour flow Doppler findings of this rare fetal intracranial tumour are discussed.

Caudal regression syndrome: etiopathogenesis, prenatal diagnosis, and perinatal management.

Caudal regression syndrome represents a continuum of congenital malformations ranging from agenesis of the lumbosacral spine to the most severe cases of sirenomelia with lower extremities fusion and major visceral anomalies. The etiology of this syndrome is not well known. Maternal diabetes, genetic predisposition, and vascular hypoperfusion have been suggested as possible causative factors.

Amnioinfusion: an aid in the ultrasonographic evaluation of severe oligohydramnios in pregnancy.

Objective: Amnioinfusion was used in pregnancy complicated by severe oligohydramnios to enable a more comprehensive ultrasonographic evaluation of the pregnancy.

Study Design: Thirteen patients were referred to the Division of Obstetrical and Gynecological Ultrasound at the University of Miami because of severe oligohydramnios in which a definitive diagnosis could not be made. Nine patients were in the second trimester and four were in the early third trimester.