Congenital Anomalies Diagnosed by Antenatal Ultrasonography

Cho, Jae Sung; Kim, Kyung Soo; Kim, Suk Young; Kim, Tae Yoon; Choi, Hyung Min; Lim, Young Koo; Park, Yong Won

Abstract

The incidence of congenital anomalies is reported to be 2~3% of live born births. Inthe past, infection was one of the major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, butowing to the development of antibiotics and intensive care, congenital anomalies are becominga major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Prenatal diagnosis of congenitalanomalies is becoming more important because appropriate perinatal care may minimize theeffect of congenital anomalies.We studied the incidence of congenital anomalies diagnosed by antenatal ultrasoundexaminations retrospectively. The study group was 13,652 pregnant women who were takenantenatal obstetric ultrasound examinations between Jan. 1, 1991 and Dec. 31, 1995. Therewere 694 cases of congenital anomalies diagnosed by antenatal ultrasonography examinations.The incidence of congenital anomalies was 5.1%. The most common congenital anomaliesby organ system was central nervous system(32.7%), and the next were urogenital(14.7%), heart(11.7%), face and neck(8.4%), multiple anomalies(8.4%), G-I(6.8%), abdominalwall defect(4.5%), skeletal(3.5%), thorax(3.2%) in order. The most common congenitalanomalies was choroid plexus cyst(8.8%), and the next were hydrocephalus(7.9%), hydronephrosis(6.5%), cystic hygroma(4.2%), anencephaly(3.9%), cleft lip and/or palate(2.9%),hydrops fetalis(2.4%), small intestinal obstruction(2.3%), multicystic kidney(2.2%), diaphragmatichernia(2.2%), omphalocele(2.0%), gastroschisis(2.0%), holoprosencephaly(1.9%),ovarian cyst(1.6%), esophageal atresia(1.4%), microcephaly(1.4%), amniotic band syndrome(1.3%), meningocele or meningomyelocele(1.3%) in decreasing order. Ultrasonography maybe a useful prenatal diagnostic method of detecting congenial anomalies.