[Varix of intra-abdominal umbilical vein: report of two cases]

Varix of the intra-abdominal portion of the umbilical vein is an uncommon sonographic diagnosis, which may be increasing in the coming years for the improvement of ultrasound equipment and the advances in knowledge of fetal anatomy. It has been reported in the literature in many cases associated with chromosomal defects, additional sonographic abnormalities and poor fetal outcome, but, in contrary to earlier reports, especially in cases in which it appears isolated, a good fetal outcome is expected. We report two cases of umbilical vein varix diagnosed in our department at 20 and 33 weeks, both with good perinatal outcome.