Three-dimensional ultrasonographic reslicing of the fetal brain to assist prenatal diagnosis of central nervous system anomalies.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of 3-dimensional ultrasonographic planar and nonplanar reslicing techniques.


METHODS
Fetuses with severe brain anomalies diagnosed by means of 2-dimensional ultrasonography were prospectively included in the study. Good-quality 3-dimensional volumes of the fetal head were obtained in each case. Subsequently, these volumes were reviewed with use of 3-dimensional extended imaging with Oblique View and DynamicMR (Medison Co, Ltd, Seoul, Korea).


RESULTS
Eight fetuses (mean gestational age, 23 weeks; range, 20-30 weeks) with the following central nervous system anomalies were examined: semilobar holoprosencephaly, absent cavum septum pellucidum, porencephaly in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, partial agenesis of the corpus callosum, Dandy-Walker variant, open-lip schizencephaly, aneurysm of the vein of Galen, and dilated cavum vergae.


CONCLUSIONS
Planar and nonplanar reslicing of the volumes delivered informative images in any reconstructed plane. One important prerequisite, however, was the absence of acoustic shadowing during data acquisition.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Charité University Hospital-Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany. kalache@soton.ac.uk
Karim D
KD
Kalache
Katja
K
Eder
Tilman
T
Esser
Hans
H
Proquitté
Gisela
G
Stoltenburg-Didinger
John P
JP
Hartung
Christian
C
Bamberg
D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities*; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D004453:Echoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D009421:Nervous System Malformations / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*