Increased nuchal translucency can be ascertained using transverse planes.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Prenatal Diagnosis
• Fetal Medicine

Background:

• Increased nuchal translucency (NT) is a key marker for fetal aneuploidies and anomalies.
• Accurate NT measurement is critical for early risk assessment in pregnancy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a transverse fetal head view for detecting increased NT.
• To compare the transverse view with the standard sagittal view for NT measurement at 11-13 weeks gestation.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 1023 women undergoing combined screening.
• Nuchal translucency measurements were taken using both sagittal and transverse views.
• Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability assessed by a second sonologist.

Main Results:

• Excellent correlation between sagittal and transverse NT measurements (mean difference 0.01 mm).
• High inter-rater (0.957) and intra-rater (0.976) reliability for transverse measurements.
• Transverse views demonstrated high specificity (99.7%) in identifying increased NT thresholds.
• Transverse measurements were significantly faster, especially with unfavorable fetal positions.

Conclusions:

• Transverse NT measurement is a reliable alternative to sagittal views when performed by expert sonologists.
• This technique offers potential technical advantages and comparable accuracy for aneuploidy screening.
• Transverse views can be effectively utilized for identifying increased nuchal translucency.