Objective: To determine if postmortem examinations of fetuses and infants change the diagnosis obtained at prenatal ultrasound and affect counseling of future pregnancies, and if there has been a change over recent years in the accuracy of prenatal ultrasound diagnosis.
Methods: This was a retrospective review of 455 autopsies of fetuses and infants with developmental anomalies performed at Trondheim University Hospital between 1995 and 2004 and with a prenatal ultrasound examination performed at a tertiary referral center. The routine ultrasound examinations were performed by specially trained midwives and obstetricians, referral scans by fetal medicine experts and autopsies by consultant pathologists with experience in perinatal pathology. The results of this study were also compared with those of a previous similar study performed between 1985 and 1995, with fetuses and infants coming from the same population and diagnosed at the same center.
Results: Of all cases analyzed during the study period, there was complete agreement between prenatal ultrasound and postmortem findings in 84% (384/455), i.e. prenatal ultrasound diagnoses were supplemented by postmortem examinations in 16% (71/455). Autopsy findings in four of these cases influenced further counseling. There was agreement regarding the main diagnosis in 98% (445/455) of cases. In the previous 10-year period, there was complete agreement in 75% and the main diagnosis was correct in 90% of cases. These differences between the two time periods were statistically significant (P = 0.0004 and P < 0.0001, respectively). The most frequent defects involved the central nervous system, heart and urinary tract. For these defects, detection rates for the main diagnoses were significantly better in 1995-2004 compared with in the previous 10-year period (P = 0.0125, P = 0.0111 and P = 0.0241, respectively).
Conclusion: The accuracy of prenatal sonographic detection of developmental anomalies has increased in recent years. However, postmortem examination is still necessary to verify or improve the prenatal diagnosis and may influence future counseling.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/uog.10106 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
A comprehensive scoping review on machine learning-based fetal echocardiography analysis.
Comput Biol Med
January 2025
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.
Fetal echocardiography (ultrasound of the fetal heart) plays a vital role in identifying heart defects, allowing clinicians to establish prenatal and postnatal management plans. Machine learning-based methods are emerging to support the automation of fetal echocardiographic analysis; this review presents the findings from a literature review in this area. Searches were queried at leading indexing platforms ACM, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, including papers published until July 2023.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParietal Meningocele Under the Scalp of a Fetus Diagnosed Based on Volume Contrast Imaging of Prenatal Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Data.
Case Rep Neurol Med
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Determining the differential diagnosis of small scalp cysts identified on a fetus is difficult. In particular, many physicians have difficulty differentiating small meningoceles from small scalp cysts during the prenatal period. Volume contrast imaging increases contrast between tissues, thereby allowing an enhanced view of target structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvaluation of the relationship between worry and anxiety with the general health status of pregnant women at risk of diagnosing abnormalities.
Reprod Health
January 2025
School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran.
Background: Today, the screening of fetal abnormalities during pregnancy is used as one of the components of the prenatal care worldwide, and many abnormalities are detected by ultrasound during pregnancy. On the other hand, the possibility of an abnormality in the fetus causes worry and anxiety in pregnant women. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between worry and anxiety with the general health status of pregnant women at risk of diagnosing fetal abnormalities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopment of autonomic innervation at the venous pole of the heart: bridging the gap from mice to human.
J Transl Med
January 2025
Department of Anatomy & Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, Postal Zone: S-1-P, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Background: Prenatal development of autonomic innervation of sinus venosus-related structures might be related to atrial arrhythmias later in life. Most of the pioneering studies providing embryological background are conducted in animal models. To date, a detailed comparison with the human cardiac autonomic nervous system (cANS) is lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrecision fetal cardiology detects cyanotic congenital heart disease using maternal saliva metabolome and artificial intelligence.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.
Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) can lead to improved morbidity and mortality. However, the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound, the sole prenatal screening tool, remains limited. Failed prenatal or early newborn detection of cyanotic CHD (CCHD) can have disastrous consequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!