Chorioangioma and its severe infantile sequelae: case report

This case report describes a rare clinical presentation of chorioangioma diagnosed prenatally because of raised-maternal serum (MS) alpha-fetoprotein.

A thirty-year-old woman gravida 2, para 1 was referred to the ultrasound unit at 18 weeks of gestation because of abnormal MS triple-test results. This included AFP level of 14.9 MoM; hCG of 3.42 MoM and uE3 of 1.01 MoM. A detailed anomaly scan revealed a singleton fetus with no sonographically detectable malformations and normal amniotic fluid. The placenta was posterior. A well-circumscribed, rounded, predominantly hypoechoic lesion near the chorionic surface measuring 5 x 5 cm and protruding into the amniotic cavity was detected. Color Doppler sonogram showed no blood flow within the mass, but clear fetal waveforms in its periphery were demonstrated, and the diagnosis of chorioangioma was made. The pregnancy was followed uneventfully until 35 weeks of gestation when polyhydramnios and severe fetal cardiomegaly developed. Labor was therefore induced.

A euploid female, who had multiple diffuse cutaneous and liver angiomatosis was born. She died at the age of one month because of cardiac failure and infection.

The present case alerts to the interrelationship between placental and fetal angiomas. This may lead to severe infantile sequelae because of similar lesions.