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

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Kuldeep Singh

Ultrasound and Color Doppler Clinic, India

: J Womens Health, Issues Care

Abstract

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Ultrasound is an essential tool for any obstetric practice. When it started five decades ago little did we realize 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 dysgraphia disorganization 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.

Biography

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Dr. Kuldeep Singh has been practicing ultrasound for over 18 years in South Delhi, INDIA. He is known for his ultrasound skills in Anomaly Scanning, Color Doppler Scanning and High risk pregnancy evaluation. He has more than 150 lectures in various national and international conferences. He has more than 100 articles and chapters to his credit and has authored 16 books on Ultrasound in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. His books have been translated into Spanish, Chinese and Portugese. The IMAGING SCIENCE AWARD was honored to him at the AICOG 2008. He is presently the President of the Delhi Chapter of IFUMB. He has been appointed as associate director of Ian-Donald Inter University School of Medical ultrasound.