Fetal movements were examined by ultrasound in 24 pregnancies in which an abnormal karyotype was detected in fetal cells and compared to ultrasound fetal movement patterns in normal pregnancies. The main features in fetuses with chromosome anomalies observed at 18-20 weeks of gestation are the persistence of global, jerky movements with twitches usually seen at 13-14 weeks of gestation in normal fetuses. This fetal motor behaviour is inconstant in trisomy 21. In trisomy 18 the hand deformities are easily detected.
Fetal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed at 33 weeks of gestation for investigation of a posterior fossa abnormality found at ultrasound screening. Fetal movements were abolished by vecuronium injected under ultrasound guidance into the umbilical vein. MR images showed atrophy of the left cerebellar lobe with cisternal dilatation. These were confirmed postnatally by CT scan.
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