Collaborative study on 3-dimensional sonography for the prenatal diagnosis of central nervous system defects.

Objectives: Prenatal diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) anomalies by 2-dimensional sonography is challenging because of difficulties in obtaining complete visualization of the fetal brain during routine examinations, which is necessary for identification of its axial, coronal, and sagittal planes. Three-dimensional (3D) sonography has been introduced as a tool for studying the fetal CNS because of its ability to facilitate examinations of the fetal brain. The objective of this study was to determine inter-center agreement in diagnosing CNS defects by review of 3D volume data sets.

Assessment of corpus callosum biometric measurements at 18 to 32 weeks' gestation by 3-dimensional sonography.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to construct reference limits for corpus callosum dimensions measured on images reconstructed from 3-dimensional (3D) sonography and to evaluate the reproducibility of these measurements.

Methods: Three-dimensional sonographic volumes were acquired transabdominally from an axial view of the head in 361 fetuses cross-sectionally studied at 18 to 32 weeks' gestation. Offline analysis of the fetal brain midsagittal plane was used to evaluate the length and area of the corpus callosum and corpus callosum-cavum septi pellucidi complex.

Role of sonographic automatic volume calculation in measuring fetal cardiac ventricular volumes using 4-dimensional sonography: comparison with virtual organ computer-aided analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the agreement and reliability of virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) and sonographic automatic volume calculation (sonoAVC) for measurements of ventricular volume from fetal heart data sets acquired by 4-dimensional sonography with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC).

Methods: We studied 45 volumes from fetuses with normal (n = 30) and abnormal (n = 15) hearts. Spatiotemporal image correlation data sets were frozen in end systole and end diastole, and ventricular volumes were measured with VOCAL and sonoAVC.

First-trimester placental volume and vascularization measured by 3-dimensional power Doppler sonography in pregnancies with low serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein a levels.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the first-trimester placental volume and 3-dimensional (3D) power Doppler vascularization of pregnancies with low serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) levels and to relate these findings to pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: Three-dimensional power Doppler sonography of the placenta was performed at gestational ages of 11 weeks to 13 weeks 6 days in 84 pregnancies with PAPP-A concentrations of less than 0.4 multiple of the median (MoM).