Title: Anomaly scan: Paradigm shift from the second to the first trimester

Biography:

Abstract

Ultrasound is an essential tool for any obstetric practise. When it started five decades ago little did we realise that this invention is a technological marvel. One could look into the presentation and the viability of the fetus. Acrania could be excluded in the third trimester and with ultrasound machines and probes getting better we could exclude that in the second trimester so called Level II scan. With high resolution probes and high frequency transvaginal probes one can now diagnose fetal abnormalities in the late first trimester. This avoids the mental trauma the mother and the family have to go through and lethal abnormalities can be terminated much earlier. Acrania, anencephaly, gross dysraphic disorganisation of the fetal spine, anterior thoracic and abdominal wall defects and gross limb abnormalities are few structural malformations that can be detected with ease as early as 11-12 weeks. Apart from structural abnormalities the index of suspicion for chromosomal abnormalities also is there with looking at the nuchal translucency, nasal bone and flow through the tricuspid valve and in the ductus venosus. Combined testing with a dual test increases the sensitivity manifold. What is most important is the knowhow of what to look and how to look in your 11-14 weeks scan.