Echogenicity of the foetal telencephalic choroid plexus as a developmental landmark: a preliminary report

Echogenicity of the telencephalic choroid plexus was observed in 34% of foetuses examined consecutively in routine obstetrical sonograms. Foetuses with echogenic were all aged between 13 and 23 weeks. 70% of the foetuses showing the echogenic plexus were in the second trimester. 80% of these foetuses were scanned during the fifth month of pregnancy (aged between 15 and 19 weeks). The biparietal diameter of 87% of the skulls with echogenic plexus ranged between 22 and 50mm. The characteristic appearance of the normal plexus during a certain period in the second trimester confirms its transient nature and suggests an underlying developmental mechanism. It appears and disappears well before the disease entities presenting in similar cephalic echogenicities.