Prognostic Features and Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Isolated Fetal Ventriculomegaly

Area of Science:

• Prenatal diagnosis and counseling
• Pediatric neurology
• Medical imaging

Background:

• Fetal isolated ventriculomegaly (IVM) is a condition diagnosed via ultrasound.
• Accurate long-term outcome prediction is crucial for prenatal counseling.
• Previous studies have limited data on the long-term clinical and imaging outcomes of IVM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate long-term clinical and imaging outcomes in children with fetal isolated ventriculomegaly (IVM).
• To identify predictors of outcome in IVM for improved prenatal counseling.
• To assess the association between IVM characteristics and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 72 fetuses diagnosed with IVM between 1999 and 2011.
• Review of atrial diameter measurements in the axial plane.
• Association analysis of IVM characteristics with outcome parameters, including receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

Main Results:

• Postnatal diagnosis of cerebral anomalies in 42% and genetic disorders in 12% of live births.
• Significant association found between IVM degree and genetic disorders (AUC=0.866).
• Significant association found between IVM progression and motor impairment (AUC=0.789).
• Favorable outcomes were observed when cerebral or genetic anomalies were absent postnatally.

Conclusions:

• IVM diameter and progression are not significantly associated with most outcome parameters.
• Cerebral anomalies and genetic disorders are key contributors to unfavorable outcomes in IVM.
• Absence of postnatal cerebral or genetic anomalies suggests a favorable prognosis for IVM.