Absent or shortened nasal bone length and the detection of Down Syndrome in second-trimester fetuses.

Objective: To estimate the accuracy of evaluating nasal bone length, expressed as multiples of the median (MoM), for the detection of Down syndrome in second- trimester fetuses.

Methods: Expected normal median nasal bone measurements were established for an initial cohort of women receiving fetal ultrasound examinations at 15-24 weeks of gestation. Nasal bone lengths were converted to MoM with adjustment for maternal race and ethnicity using whites as the referent group.

Use of the mitral valve-tricuspid valve distance as a marker of fetal endocardial cushion defects.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the mitral valve-tricuspid valve distance in second-trimester fetuses with normal cardiac anatomy versus those fetuses with endocardial cushion defects.

Study Design: We identified fetuses between 16 and 24 weeks of gestation. The distance between the insertions of the medial leaflets of the mitral and tricuspid valves were obtained.