title: Three dimensional ultrasonography for advanced neurosonography (Neurosofe-3d). Analysis of acquisition-related factors influencing the quality of the brain volumes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the acquisition-related factors influencing the quality of the brain volumes for further study of advanced neurosonography.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospective multicentre study. Five centres were asked to include five cases each, acquiring two volumes per case, at different gestational ages. Ten operators performed an advanced neurosonography per case. The potential influence of the following factors on the number of evaluable structures was assessed: vaginal/ abdominal acquisition, position of the head, gestational age, subjective quality of the volume and the acquiring operator itself.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred and thirty-two evaluations were included in the study. A total of 80% of the structures were evaluated satisfactorily in the axial plane, 67.1% and 55.1% in the coronal and sagittal plane, respectively. Sagittal volumes acquired transvaginally had a better quality than those acquired transabdominally. Gestational age affected the quality of axial and sagittal volumes (p < 0.001), and the best quality was obtained between 20 and 27 weeks. In axial and sagittal volumes, the head position influenced the percentage of structures visualized (p < 0.001, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Factors affecting the quality of the volume for advanced neurosonography are gestational age, fetal head position, transvaginal acquisition in sagittal volumes, the acquiring operator and the subjective quality of the volume. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, BioCruces Health Research Institute, Hospital Universitario Cruces. University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barakaldo, Spain.
authors.forename: Nerea
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8261-6383
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maiz
authors.affiliation: Centro Gutenberg, Unidad Medicina Fetal, Málaga, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Prenatal Diagnosis Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Hospital Universitario Donostia, San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belar
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, BioCruces Health Research Institute, Hospital Universitario Cruces. University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barakaldo, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burgos
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Universitario Cruces, BioCruces Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Irasarri
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, San Cecilio University hospital, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisca S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, La Arrixaca University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Paco
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Universitario Cruces, BioCruces Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain.|CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Pijoan
authors.affiliation: Hospiten Group, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Plasencia
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vall d'Hebrón University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlota
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodó
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine Department, Institut Universitari Quirón-Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M Angeles
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tajada
authors.affiliation: Fetal Medicine Unit, Hospital Son Llàtzer, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tubau
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal