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Updated: May 1, 2026
State of the Art Cranial Ultrasound Imaging in Neonates
Published on: February 2, 2015
Concordance between prenatal ultrasound and autopsy findings in a tertiary center
M Angeles Rodriguez1, Pilar Prats, Ignacio Rodríguez
1Fetal Medicine Service, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine Department, Institut Universitari Quirón-Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the ultrasound (US)/autopsy concordance in elective termination of pregnancies (TOP) due to fetal causes.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective evaluation of elective TOP from 2004 to 2012. Inclusion criteria were gestational age at termination <24 weeks, fetal pathology and availability of US/autopsy data. Based on the US-autopsy concordance, cases were divided into four groups: Group 1: agreement; Group 2: autopsy confirmed all US findings but provided additional information; Group 3: autopsy didn't confirm all US findings; Group 4: disagreement.
Results:
One hundred and fifty-one patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria during the study period. Central nervous system malformations (91.5%), cardiovascular anomalies (90.2%) and renal system malformations (91.3%) were confirmed by autopsy. We found less concordance in the abdominal and musculoskeletal anomalies (61.5% and 66.7%, respectively). There were 130 (86%) fetuses in group 1, 7 in group 2 (4.6%), 3 in group 3 (1.9%) and 11 in group 4 (7.2%). In 5.29% of cases, the autopsy added relevant information to the diagnosis and counselling.
Conclusions:
Diagnosis concordance between US and necropsy is achieved in almost 90% of cases. An autopsy may help to adjust the diagnosis and help in counselling the parents for a future pregnancy.
