ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a rare serious fetal event. It manifests via non-specific sonographic findings such as: ventriculomegaly, increased periventricular echogenity, hyperechogenic ependyma and presence of avascular intracranial masses. Severe ICH causes an increase in fetal intracranial pressure, which can be quantified in utero by the presence of reverse flow in the middle cerebral artery (MCA-REDF). Retrograde flow in the middle cerebral artery indicates already deteriorating circulatory conditions in the fetal brain with loss of autoregulatory mechanisms and critical damage to the vascular supply. Detection of this finding allows to improve the diagnosis of ICH and also affects the prognosis and management of pregnancy. We report the case of critical intracranial hypertension in fetal intracranial hemorrhage manifested by cerebral artery reverse flow.
Subject(s)
Fetal Diseases , Intracranial Hypertension , Pregnancy , Female , Humans , Intracranial Hemorrhages/complications , Intracranial Hemorrhages/diagnostic imaging , Prognosis , Intracranial Hypertension/diagnosis , Intracranial Hypertension/diagnostic imaging , Cerebral Arteries , Cerebral HemorrhageABSTRACT
Routine ultrasonography examination may miss fetal defecation and if seen it can be a source of misinterpretation which can lead to a wrong diagnose and management of pregnancy. We report two rare cases of fetal defecation in the second trimester and we describe 3D sonographic findings associated with this condition.
