Anomaly Scans During Pregnancy

What is Fetal Anomaly?

Anomaly is encountered in 3-5% of babies during pregnancy. All kinds of disabilities and disorders that physically affect the baby's appearance or impair the function of organs and systems are included in the diagnosis of fetal anomaly.

How Is Fetal Anomaly Screening Performed?

Detailed Ultrasonography is the most important part of fetal anomaly screening. Fetal anomaly screening is between 18-23 weeks of pregnancy. It is an ultrasound examination performed between the 3rd and 7th weeks of pregnancy, in which the organs of the baby in the womb are displayed in detail. In this examination, some organs and systems are examined in detail, respectively.

Brain tissue of the fetus (central nervous system)

Face, lips, eyes

The heart and its main vessels

Rib cage and Lungs

Midriff

Anterior abdominal wall

Gastrointestinal tract

Kidneys and bladder

Backbone

Arms and legs

Hands and feet

Skeletal system

Placenta

Umbilical cord

Amount of amniotic fluid

Measurement values of the fetus

Can Everything Be Understood With Fetal Anomaly Scanning?

Detailed Ultrasonography or anomaly scanning is used to examine whether the above-mentioned organ systems are anatomically normal. However, whether the organs are functioning or not may not be understood by ultrasonography. For example, eye tissue may appear normal, but postnatal blindness may occur. The ear can be seen, but the baby may have hearing loss.

Some genetic diseases may give findings that can be seen on ultrasound, but in some genetic diseases, the fetus may appear completely normal on ultrasound. Therefore, it is not always possible to diagnose genetic diseases with ultrasound.

On the other hand, some diseases or developmental disorders in organs may not be seen at the time of detailed ultrasonography. The fetus is in a state of continuous development in the womb. Some diseases may appear later in the week. For example, shortness in the skeletal system, some kidney diseases, some brain development defects cannot be seen before the 24th week. In addition, sufficient fluid in the baby is essential for adequate imaging. The position of the fetus in the womb, the mother's being overweight, the technical features of the ultrasound device and the experience of the person performing the ultrasound examination of the fetus are the factors affecting this examination. The desired image quality may not be achieved in an overweight mother or a device with insufficient technical equipment.

In summary, although detailed ultrasonography provides us with a lot of useful information about the health of the baby in the womb, it cannot guarantee that the baby will be born completely normal.

Does Fetal Anomaly Screening Change Down Syndrome Risk Ratio in Double or Quadruple Test?

Down syndrome risk rate of a fetus seen as normal with detailed ultrasonography decreases 8-10 times.