Cervical varix as a cause of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy: prenatal diagnosis by color Doppler ultrasonography.

Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome. Beyond 20 weeks of gestation, the most frequent causes of bleeding associated with maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality are placenta previa and placental abruption. Cervical varix during pregnancy is a rare condition.

The use of the minimum projection mode in 4-dimensional examination of the fetal heart with spatiotemporal image correlation.

Objective: The minimum projection mode (MPM) is a rendering algorithm available in some 3- and 4-dimensional ultrasonography systems that, in 1 image, allows the visualization of vessels and cystic anatomic structures located in different scanning planes. The objective of this study was to compare the information displayed in images obtained with the MPM with their corresponding 2-dimensional ultrasonographic images from fetuses with and without structural heart defects.

Methods: Thirty-two volume data sets acquired with the spatiotemporal image correlation technique from fetuses with (n = 15) and without (n = 17) structural heart defects were analyzed.