Fetal cerebral ventriculomegaly: outcome in 176 cases

Objective To evaluate the outcome of fetuses affected by different degrees of ventriculomegaly. Methods We studied 176 fetuses with ventriculomegaly and evaluated the pregnancy outcome and the neurodevelopmental outcome at age 24 months. The population was divided into three groups according to ventricular width: A (mild ventriculomegaly, 10 to 12 mm); B (moderate, 12.1 to 14.9 mm) and C (severe, 15 mm). Results Ventriculomegaly was more often an isolated finding in Group A (44/75; 58.7%) than in Group B (10/41; 24.4%) and Group C (24/60; 40%). When the ventriculomegaly was an isolated finding, 97.7% of fetuses with mild, 80% with moderate and 33.3% of those with severe dilatation were alive at 24 months. The neurodevelopmental outcome was normal in 93% of Group A, 75% of Group B and 62.5% of Group C. Conclusions Our results suggest that the definition of borderline ventriculomegaly should be limited to ventricular width below 12 mm. Cases with measurements above this value are more often associated with malformations and have a normal neurodevelopmental outcome less frequently. Copyright  2005 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.