Diagnostic Yield of Post-Mortem Fetal Micro-CT for Thoracic Abnormalities
Ian C Simcock1,2,3, Audrey Lamouroux4,5,6, Susan C Shelmerdine1,2,3
1Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Department of Radiology, London, UK.
Objective:
This study aims to identify the imaging findings specifically for thoracic anomalies in 1200 Micro-CT cases, independent of whether the abnormality contributed to the main diagnosis or cause of death.
Method:
We analyzed 1200 Micro-CT scans in an unselected, consecutive cohort between 2017 and 2024 to identify thoracic anomalies within the population. These were separated into cardiac and non-cardiac with specific anomalies noted for in-depth analysis.
Results:
Cardiac or thoracic non-cardiac anomalies were identified in 158/1200 (13.1%) fetuses of the total population, with a total of 250 individual cardiac or non-cardiac anomalies identified, with 150/250 (60%) cardiac and 100/250 (40%) non-cardiac, respectively. The most common cardiac defects were structural defects 137/150 (91.3%) with septal defects 52/150 (34.7%). Abnormal fluid collections 52/100 (52.0%) and wall defects 18/100 (18.0%) were the most commonly identified categories of thoracic anomalies. Non-diagnostic scans due to a high maceration (grade 6) occurred in 14/1200 (1.2%) cases, with all other lower maceration scores (grade 1-5) allowing thoracic assessment in 1186/1200 (98.8%) of cases.
Conclusion:
Micro-CT post-mortem imaging can identify a wide range of cardiac and non-cardiac thoracic anomalies following pregnancy loss in early gestation fetuses even with severe maceration.
