Premium
A comparative study of prenatal diagnosis and perinatal autopsy.
Author(s) -
Chescheir N C,
Reitnauer P J
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.7863/jum.1994.13.6.451
Subject(s) - medicine , autopsy , fetus , prenatal diagnosis , obstetrics , ultrasonography , pregnancy , prenatal ultrasound , pediatrics , radiology , pathology , biology , genetics
The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of prenatal ultrasonography and to identify patterns of fetal malformations. All fetal and neonatal autopsies over a 3 year period were compared to prenatal sonographic findings and comparisons were made between the results of the two examinations. We identified 133 fetuses and neonates who had both a complete autopsy and a perinatal autopsy. Approximately 87% of autopsy‐demonstrated major abnormalities had been detected by prenatal ultrasonography, with 61% of all malformations detected. Some limitations in accuracy of prenatal diagnosis are unavoidable, but strict attention to a thorough fetal examination should improve accuracy. Autopsy examination remains an important component of the evaluation of perinatal losses, especially if dysmorphology is known or suspected.