Diagnosis and counseling of fetal mild ventriculomegaly

Abstract

Mild ventriculomegaly (MVM) is defined as a lateral ventricular diameter measured at the level of the atrium of ≥10 mm but < 15 mm. Prenatal evaluation includes targeted sonographic examination for central nervous system (CNS) and extra- CNS abnormalities (present in 41.4% of the cases), and diagnostic amniocentesis for chromosomal analysis (3% of chromosomopaties in isolated cases) and infectious disease studies (1.5% incidence). Individualized patient counseling is based on these test results. Optimal postnatal care involves appropriate pediatric neurologic and developmental specialists. Learning objectives: After completion of this article, the reader will be able to define the normal appearance and size of the fetal cerebral ventricles, to list the conditions associated with MVM, and to counsel the parents properly.