Prenatal work-up, associated anomalies and postnatal outcomes of foetuses with 9-9.9mm cerebral ventricular atria width.

Abstract

To analyse prenatal work-up, associated anomalies and postnatal outcomes of foetuses with cerebral lateral ventricular width 9-9.9mm. This retrospective, observational, case-control study included 121 foetuses with initial presentation of isolated cerebral lateral ventricular width 9-9.9mm detected during routine ultrasound scans, 21-24weeks' gestation, in a tertiary referral centre, January 2001-December 2018. Controls included 123 foetuses with lateral ventricular width <9mm measured under the same parameters. Clinical characteristics, obstetrical history, ultrasound findings, prenatal work-up and pregnancy outcomes were collected from medical records. Information about postnatal functional and neurodevelopmental sequelae were obtained from telephone-based questionnaires. The study group had more males (82/116 (70.6%) versus 65/123 (52.8%), p=0.004), more prenatal testing, including brain magnetic resonance imaging (28/116 (24.1%) versus 0/123 (0%), p<0.001), echocardiography (46/116 (39.7%) versus 15/123 (12.2%), p<0.001) and targeted anomaly scans (102/116 (87.9%) versus 1/123 (0.008%), p<0.001). Long-term follow-up did not reveal more neurodevelopmental sequelae compared to controls. Gender-based analysis found more males with ventricular dilatation 9-9.9mm treated for developmental delay compared to females with similar findings (15/82 (18.2%) versus 1/34 (2.9%), p=0.010). Foetuses with 9-9.9mm cerebral lateral ventricular width versus <9mm underwent more prenatal testing but had similar rates of neurodevelopmental sequelae.