EP06.23: Ultrasound in diagnosing major congenital structural anomalies throughout pregnancy

To reassess the accuracy of ultrasound (US) in detecting major fetal structural anomalies in the Prenatal Diagnosis Unit Obstetrics and Gynecology I of the Emergency University County Hospital. In this prospective single-centre 5-year study we enrolled 6472 consecutive unselected pregnant women at 12 to 13+6 gestational weeks. We offered follow-up scans at 19-23 and 32-35 weeks. Newborns were examined at discharge and one month later. We had a total lost-to-follow-up rate of 15.99%, comprising 17 first trimester (FT)-positive cases. If including these incompletely documented cases, the prevalence of major congenital structural malformations was 1.57% (102/6472). In the FT, 75.49% of them were diagnosed or highly suspected, with a false-positive rate of 0.04%. The lowest detection rates (DRs) were found in evolving isolated abnormalities. The highest DRs were registered in multiple associated abnormalities. In the second, the third trimester and postnatally, the figures were 10.78%, 7.84% and 7.86%. We confirmed the high specificity and the high accuracy of US in pregnancy. Progressively, the medically terminated pregnancy rate increased, and the live-born incidence of major congenital structural anomalies decreased from 1.73% to 0.12% (p < 0.05) in our unit. In early pregnancy, US is a valuable tool for detecting major congenital structural anomalies. It seems to alter perinatal demographic data. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.