title: Fetal lung abnormalities--what do they mean?
abstract: Antenatal diagnosis of lung abnormalities by ultrasound has been a much more frequent occurrence in recent years. There is a range of appearances from uniform increased echogenicity through to lesions containing large echo-free areas. Bilateral uniformly increased echogenicity has a poor outlook but in all other situations outcome cannot be accurately predicted from an early second trimester scan. Follow-up through pregnancy often allows a fairly accurate prognosis to be made but the appearance of the lesion does not accurately predict histology. A conservative approach to the antenatal management of unilateral lesions is recommended with long-term postnatal follow-up for all lesions because of the unknown long-term outcome for the lesions, many of which are symptomatic postnatally.
authors.affiliation: Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pilling
mesh_terms: D015615:Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation of Lung, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D015160:Hydrops Fetalis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal