Prenatal diagnosis of cleft palate by three-dimensional ultrasound

Prenatal diagnosis of cleft palate is very important to prenatal consultation and management after birth. To examine if three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound (US) is an accurate diagnostic method for clinical use, we analyzed our experience in detecting cleft palate by 3-D US. From June 1996 to January 2000, 21 fetuses with facial clefts were scanned by 2-D US, as well as by 3-D US. The coronal and oblique planes were reconstructed by 3-D US to detect the cleft palate. In addition, level II US was performed to find any possibly associated anomalies. All the scans were recorded on optic disks for final analysis. In our study, the gestational age when prenatal diagnosis was made by US initially was between 20 and 34 weeks. The accuracy for prenatal diagnosis of cleft lip with or without cleft palate by 3-D US was 100%, which was superior to that by 2-D US (p < 0.05). In addition, we proposed a novel method to evaluate the cleft palate systemically by 3-D US. In conclusion, from our study, fetuses with cleft lip combined with or without cleft palate can be easily differentiated by 3-D US. The reconstruction of coronal and oblique planes by 3-D US is a powerful tool for detecting cleft palate.