In utero detection of ventriculomegaly during the second and third trimesters by transvaginal sonography

The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to extend the previously developed and published nomograms of the fetal lateral ventricles from 18 weeks back to 14 weeks of gestation using transvaginal sonography, and, second, to test the performance of the nomograms by plotting the measurements of 36 fetuses whose transabdominal and/or qualitative transvaginal scans were suspicious for ventriculomegaly. In all the cases in which postnatal confirmation of the diagnosis was possible, prenatal ultrasound correctly identified the lesion. Although a total of nine nomograms was created, the clinically meaningful measurements were: the height of the occipital horn on the parasagittal plane, and the two ratios derived from the measurements performed on the parasagittal plane. In conclusion, the transvaginally generated nomograms were useful for the correct identification of fetuses with ventriculomegaly.