Elevated first-trimester nuchal translucency increases the risk of congenital heart defects.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the association between first trimester nuchal translucency measurement and the risk for major congenital heart defect in chromosomally normal fetuses.

Study Design: First trimester (10 weeks 4 days of gestation to 13 weeks 6 days of gestation) nuchal translucency was obtained in a large prospective multicenter National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study for Down syndrome prediction. The study, which was conducted between May 1998 and December 2000, was restricted to singleton pregnancies.

Ultrasound and fetal diagnosis.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to highlight publications from the last year that have advanced the use of ultrasound in obstetrics.

Recent Findings: Anatomic examination of the fetus in the first trimester has been emphasized because it allows for early diagnosis of many conditions. The prevalence of absent nasal bone, a marker for trisomy 21, in euploid fetuses depends on ethnicity.

Late first-trimester placental disruption and subsequent gestational hypertension/preeclampsia.

Objective: To evaluate the potential relationship between placental disruption in weeks 13 and 14 and the subsequent development of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.

Methods: Using subjects recruited during a randomized trial funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which compared early amniocentesis and late transabdominal chorionic villus sampling (CVS) in weeks 13 and 14, rates of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia were compared between cases with varying degrees of placental disruption.

Results: A total of 3,698 of 3,775 randomized subjects had cytogenetically normal pregnancies and were analyzed.

Association of extreme first-trimester free human chorionic gonadotropin-beta, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, and nuchal translucency with intrauterine growth restriction and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between first-trimester trisomy 21 screening markers (free human chorionic gonadotropin-beta [hCG], pregnancy-associated plasma protein A [PAPP-A], and nuchal translucency) and adverse pregnancy outcome.

Study Design: This was a cohort study of 8012 patients enrolled in a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-sponsored study of first-trimester trisomy 21 and 18 screening. Trisomy 21 and 18 risk results and individual marker levels in unaffected pregnancies and pregnancies with adverse outcomes were evaluated.