[Advances in prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart diseases]. / Avances en el diagnóstico prenatal de las cardiopatías congénitas.

Congenital heart diseases are the most frequent abnormalities at the time of delivery. Their importance lays in the fact that they represent 46% of neonatal deaths and they are cause of a high morbidity rate. However, an early diagnosis is difficult. The aim of this revision is to give an update on the advances in the prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart diseases and their advantages compared to conventional sonography. The introduction of new technology in the detection of congenital heart diseases has improved the acquisition of better images in terms of resolution and quality. However, there is a lack of large studies to prove its benefits in non-selected population, although preliminary studies seem to give faithful results.

[Differential diagnosis of Dandy-Walker syndrome different presentations]. / Diagnóstico diferencial de las distintas variantes del síndrome de Dandy-Walker.

OBJECTIVE: Dandy-Walker syndrome is a set of abnormalities of the posterior fossa including three modalities: classic Dandy-Walker malformation, Dandy-Walker variant and mega-cisterna magna. Our objective is clarify the differential diagnosis among these entities. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Descriptive and retrospective study of Dandy-Walker cases diagnosed at our Department during the last five years plus a review of the related Medical literature. RESULTS: Three cases of Dandy-Walker modalities are reported: one case of classic Dandy-Walker malformation, one case of Dandy-Walker variant, and one case of false Dandy-Walker. In the first two cases the patients underwent legal abortion, whereas in the last one a healthy male newborn was delivered in the week 38 of gestation. CONCLUSIONS: Malformations in the posterior fossa, including Dandy-Walker syndrome, are still a challenge in prenatal diagnosis. Technical developments in imaging, such as in three-dimensional sonography and magnetic resonance, allow higher resolution and multiplanar images for an easier diagnose. There is a high rate of false positive, particularly before the 18th week of gestation. It is advisable not to establish a final diagnose before that week.