Comparison of Postmortem Analysis of Anomalous Fetuses with the Prenatal Ultrasonography Findings

ABSTRACT

Background: Congenital anomalies cause around 10–15% of perinatal deaths in India. At present, these fetal deaths are onlyevaluated with ultrasonography (USG) findings. With this study, we aimed to do the postmortem analysis of these anomalousfetuses and compare the findings with antenatal ultrasound findings.Materials and Methods: A descriptive study carried out with 43 anomalous fetuses over 1½ years period in a tertiary careinstitute by comparing the postmortem analysis of anomalous fetuses with the prenatal USG findings.Results: Among the 43 cases, 41 had antenatal USG taken. In 11 cases, autopsy confirmed the USG findings and autopsyshowed extra findings in 16 cases. Antenatal USG was normal in 12 cases, but autopsy only identified anomalies. In two cases,autopsy detected no anomalies. Among 41 cases, 12 cases with normal antenatal USG had significant findings and 11 caseswith abnormal USG had new findings after physical examination and X-ray evaluation.Conclusion: Fetal autopsy helps in identifying many external and internal malformations which were undetected by antenatalUSG. Fetal autopsy can be useful in 95% of cases – it can either confirm or add findings. Limited fetal autopsy can benefit in56% of cases. The study shows that in majority of cases, the limited fetal autopsy itself will detect many anomalies undetectedby the USG.