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Does the 10‐MHz transvaginal transducer improve the diagnostic certainty that an intrauterine fluid collection is a true gestational sac?
Author(s) -
Benacerraf Beryl R.,
Shipp Thomas D.,
Bromley Bryann
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0096(199909)27:7<374::aid-jcu3>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - medicine , gestational sac , yolk sac , gestational age , pregnancy , obstetrics , uterus , confidence interval , gestation , gynecology , nuclear medicine , embryo , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics
Purpose We studied whether a 10‐MHz transvaginal transducer improves the diagnostic certainty that a small intrauterine fluid collection is a true gestational sac. Methods Over a 6‐week period, women who presented with a positive pregnancy test and a fluid collection (devoid of any characteristics such as yolk sac or fetal pole) in the uterus seen with a standard 6–7‐MHz transvaginal transducer were entered in the study. The patients were immediately rescanned with a 10‐MHz transvaginal probe, and characteristics of the fluid collection using this probe were noted. Specifically, the visualization of a yolk sac or the intradecidual or double decidual sign was considered an objective improvement in the certainty that the fluid collection was a gestational sac. Results Twelve patients presented with a positive pregnancy test and a fluid collection in the uterus seen with a 6–7‐MHz probe. Eight of these fluid collections were smaller than 1 cm in mean diameter, and all 8 of these patients had an objective improvement in the diagnosis of an intrauterine pregnancy using the 10‐MHz probe. The other 4 patients had fluid collection 1–2 cm in mean diameter seen at 6–7 MHz. The 10‐MHz probe improved the diagnostic confidence in 2 of these 4 patients. Conclusions In patients with early pregnancies who have questionable gestational sacs on sonography with standard 6–7‐MHz transducers, the 10‐MHz probe improves the diagnostic confidence of the presence of an intrauterine gestational sac. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 27:374–377, 1999.