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.