Teleultrasound: How Accurate Are We?

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Prenatal Diagnosis
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Ultrasound is crucial for identifying fetal structural anomalies.
• Teleultrasound protocols are increasingly utilized in prenatal care.
• Evaluating the efficacy of teleultrasound is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the sensitivity and accuracy of teleultrasound for prenatal diagnosis.
• To determine the number of visits required for complete anatomic surveys using teleultrasound.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 2368 ultrasound examinations for fetal anatomic surveys.
• Comparison of teleultrasound prenatal diagnoses with mandatory birth defect surveillance data.
• Exclusion of studies before 16 weeks' gestation, multiple gestations, and non-anatomic surveys.

Main Results:

• Teleultrasound achieved a sensitivity of 57.46%, specificity of 98.21%, and accuracy of 95.9%.
• Congenital anomaly prevalence in the teleultrasound cohort was 5.66%.
• 82% of anatomic surveys were completed in one visit, with 63% and 61% requiring two and three visits, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Teleultrasound exhibits similar sensitivity and accuracy to on-site ultrasound for prenatal diagnosis.
• Further research is needed to compare teleultrasound and on-site ultrasound within the same population.
• Teleultrasound may represent a cost-saving approach to prenatal screening.