title: Prevalence, natural history, and clinical outcome of mild to moderate ventriculomegaly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence, associated anomalies, progression, and clinical outcome in fetuses diagnosed with mild to moderate ventriculomegaly at 18-24 weeks of pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospective population-based study from the North of England. Data were extracted from the U.K. Northern Congenital Abnormality Survey for cases identified during 1994-2008. Additional anomalies present were categorized according to European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies guidelines. Differences between isolated and nonisolated ventriculomegaly were examined by either Fisher's exact test or Mann-Whitney U test. Changes in prevalence were examined by the χ² test for trend.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 355 cases of confirmed mild to moderate ventriculomegaly in singleton pregnancies at 18-24 weeks of gestation among 454,080 registered births, giving a total prevalence of 7.8 per 10,000 registered births (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.0-8.7). The minimum rate of chromosomal anomaly and trisomy 21 (including cases karyotyped postnatally) in isolated cases (ie, in which no other structural anomaly was identified prenatally) was 10.2% (95% CI 6.1-16.0) and 4.5% (95% CI 2.0-8.7), respectively. Additional structural anomalies were identified prenatally in 43.1% of cases. Among isolated cases, 61.9% (95% CI 53.3-70.0) resolved by the final prenatal scan (the majority by 24 weeks of gestation) and 10.7% (95% CI 6.4-16.6) were found to have "missed" structural anomalies after birth. The probability of an infant death for isolated ventriculomegaly was 3% (95% CI 0.8-7.6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This register-based study on mild to moderate ventriculomegaly provides unique epidemiologic and outcome data. Information from this study should aid in counseling parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  III.
authors.affiliation: From the Fetal Medicine Unit, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; and the Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sethna
authors.forename: Peter W G
authors.initials: PWG
authors.lastname: Tennant
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: C Robson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014695:Cerebral Ventriculography / Q000379:methods; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult