Prenatal examination and postmortem findings in fetuses with gastroschisis and omphalocele.

OBJECTIVE: This study compares prenatal ultrasound examination and autopsy findings in fetuses and infants with gastroschisis and omphalocele.

METHOD: Criteria for inclusion in the study were an autopsy of fetuses/infants with gastroschisis or omphalocele performed between January 1985 and December 2009 and a prenatal ultrasound examination performed in a tertiary referral center. The results were organized into five categories depending on the degree of agreement.

RESULTS: Of 11 cases with gastroschisis, only one was not detected at the prenatal ultrasound examination, and the rest had full agreement. Of 70 fetuses with omphalocele, two were not diagnosed at the prenatal ultrasound examination. Four (15%) had major autopsy findings not detected prenatally. The main diagnosis was correct in 64/70 (91%) and improved from 85% to 95% during this study period. The number of cases with major and minor autopsy findings not detected by ultrasound examination was reduced from 48% to 21%. Full agreement occurred in 46/70 (66%).

CONCLUSION: This study shows that the correlation between prenatal ultrasound findings and postmortem examination is good and has improved over time. Comparing full agreement during the first 10 years with the last 15 years showed an improvement (p = 0.05) for fetuses with omphalocele.