Isolated mild fetal ventriculomegaly. Report of a case

Abstract

Ventriculomegaly is a marker of abnormal brain development and is a cause for concern when present. It has a prevalence of 0.3-1/1000 live births and is more frequent in male fetuses. Ventriculomegaly is defined as the atrioventricular diameter of the lateral ventricles greater than or equal to 10 mm. A measurement of 10-15 mm constitutes mild ventriculomegaly while values >15 mm constitute severe ventriculomegaly. Ventriculomegaly may be isolated or associated with other anomalies including abnormal structural findings, chromosomal abnormalities or prenatal infections in about 50-84% of cases. If ventriculomegaly is mild and isolated, the most frequent outcome is normal. Survival of newborns with isolated mild ventriculomegaly is high, with reports of 93-98%. The probability of normal neurodevelopment is greater than 90% and will not be different from that of the general population. Therefore, in the presence of isolated mild ventriculomegaly, after a complete evaluation, the pregnant woman should be informed that the prognosis is favorable, and that the child will probably be considered normal. We present a case of isolated mild left ventriculomegaly detected in the prenatal ultrasound at 20 weeks, who underwent serial neurosonographic controls, genetic amniocentesis and study of prenatal infections, the latter two being normal and showing resolution of ventriculomegaly, as well as postpartum control within the limits of normality.