The midsagittal view of the fetal brain: a useful landmark in recognizing the cause of fetal cerebral ventriculomegaly

Dilatation of the fetal cerebral ventricles (ventriculomegaly) is a generic sonographic sign that is common to several pathological entities carrying different prognoses. The main causes of fetal ventriculomegaly are aqueductal stenosis, Chiari II malformation, Dandy-Walker complex, and agenesis of the corpus callosum. Ventriculomegaly is easily recognized by ultrasound by measuring the atrial width. This simple measure allows the recognition of mild forms of ventricular dilatation and is used in screening for ventriculomegaly. However, although the diagnosis of ventriculomegaly is easy, the prenatal identification of the cause of ventricular dilatation is a more difficult task. For this purpose the evaluation of the posterior fossa in association with the visualization of the corpus callosum is useful. Research into the causes of ventriculomegaly is clinically useful, since the prognosis mainly depends on the etiology and on the presence of associated abnormalities. In this article the role of prenatal sonography in determining the cause of the ventriculomegaly is reviewed, as well as the prognostic value of the prenatal sonographic findings.

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“…cases of partial agenesis of the corpus callosum, thus confirming the difficulties in recognizing this structure [30].…”

Section: Recognizing the Cause Of Fetal Ventriculomegalymentioning

confidence: 58%

Sonographic diagnosis of fetal cerebral ventriculomegaly: An update

D’Addario

Pinto

Cagno

et al. 2007

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

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“…A definitive diagnosis of ACC relies on recognition of the direct signs (Pilu et al, 1993;Moutard et al, 2003;D'Addario et al, 2005), which consist of the demonstration of the absence of the CC on mid-sagittal and coronal views of the fetal brain. In particular, the mid-sagittal plane will demonstrate absence of the CC and, in advanced gestation or post-natally, an atypical radiating appearance of the median sulci, which converge toward the third ventricle ( Figure 6).…”

Section: Sonographic Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disorders of prosencephalic development

Volpe¹,

Campobasso²,

Robertis³

et al. 2009

Prenatal Diagnosis

107

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Abnormal ventral induction may result in disorders of formation, cleavage, and midline development of prosencephalic structures. Holoprosencephaly is a developmental field defect of impaired cleavage of prosencephalon. The most widely accepted classification of holoprosencephaly recognizes three major varieties: the alobar, semilobar and lobar types, according to the severity of the malformation. The brain malformations, characterized by the fusion of the cerebral hemisphere along the midline are commonly associated with facial anomalies.Corpus callosum agenesis and septo-optic dysplasia are disorders of prosencephalic midline development, and usually have less severe presentations but still, affected subjects may suffer from neurodevelopmental retardation, and/or endocrinologic and visual disorders.In this article we report an up-to-date of pathogenesis, prenatal sonographic findings, differential diagnosis and prognosis of the aforementioned anomalies.

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“…While examining the fetal head, one of the most important views is probably the so‐called median plane, a sagittal section of the fetal head oriented along the midline, that provides unique information on intracranial structures such as the corpus callosum and the cerebellar vermis1. Several authors have recently advocated the use of this scanning plane in the evaluation of fetal anatomy2–6. Unfortunately this scanning plane is particularly difficult to obtain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%