Maternal ultrasound in neonatal surgery

Maternal ultrasound is commonly used for the evaluation and followup of pregnancy. Increasing experience in this field has led to the accurate sonographic description of both normal and abnormal fetal anatomy and to the antenatal diagnosis of increasing numbers of surgically correctable conditions. Antenatal diagnosis has the potential of greatly benefiting obstetrical care, the counseling and advising of parents, and perinatal surgical management. The use of intrauterine fetal surgery and/or manipulation may provide increased salvage of fetuses with diaphragmatic hernia and obstructive uropathy in the future. With the known safety and noninvasiveness of maternal sonography it may become a useful screening procedure for all pregnancies.