title: Prenatal diagnosis of fetal skeletal dysplasia with 3D CT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical use of 3D CT for fetal skeletal malformations is controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of fetal 3D CT using three protocols with different radiation doses and through comparing findings between fetal CT and conventional postnatal radiographic skeletal survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen fetuses underwent CT for suspected skeletal dysplasia. A relay of three CT protocols with stepwise dose-reduction were used over the study period. The concordance between the CT diagnosis and the final diagnosis was assessed. Ninety-three radiological findings identifiable on radiographs were compared with CT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fetal CT provided the correct diagnosis in all 17 fetuses, the detectability rate of cardinal findings was 93.5 %. In 59 % of the fetuses an US-based diagnosis was changed prenatally due to CT findings. The estimated fetal radiation dose in the final protocol was 3.4 mSv (50 %) of the initial protocol, and this dose reduction did not result in degraded image quality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The capability of fetal CT to delineate the skeleton was almost the same as that of postnatal skeletal survey. The perinatal management was altered due to these more specific CT findings, which aided in counseling and in the management of the pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Seatagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan. osamu-m@rc4.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sago
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kosaki
mesh_terms: D001848:Bone Diseases, Developmental / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000196:embryology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*