[Cloacal exstrophy, ultrasonic diagnosis]

This study aims to underline the importance of transvaginal ultrasonography in the first three months of pregnancy. The authors report a case which was referred to their attention for preliminary tests performed prior to amniocentesis, recommended by the general physician because of the mother's age. The primapara woman and father of the fetus were healthy and the family history excluded hereditary diseases or congenital pathologies. Transvaginal ultrasonography permitted the diagnosis at the start of the fourth month of pregnancy of a polymalformed fetus with cloacal exstrophy, sacral myelomeningocele, clubfoot, single umbilical artery. In this case, the mother decided to undergo eugenic abortion in view of the severity of the pathology.