SONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF ATRIUM OF LATERAL VENTRICLE IN FOETUSES OF DIFFERENT GESTATIONAL AGES

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Lateral ventricle is the CSF lled cavity inside the cerebrum. Atrium, the meeting point of the body of lateral ventricle, its posterior horn and inferior horn, can be demonstrated radiologically in foetus as early as 12 weeks. Ventriculomegaly is often seen associated with structural anomalies of foetus. It is the earliest ultrasonographic indicator capable of detecting trivial changes in ventricular dilatation in the foetal brain. The study was done in 175 antenatal ultrasound scans of gestational ageMETHOD: ranging between 13 and 40 weeks. The measurements were taken from the axial images directly from the screen by the Sonologist. Atrial width (AW), Cerebro Atrial distance (CAD) and Hemispheric width (HSW) were also measured. Two ratios were calculated AW/CAD & AW/HSW. These values were correlated with Gestational Age (GA), Foetal weight(FW) and Biparietal diameter (BPD) were also evaluated for right left asymmetry. AW was found to be fairly constant throughout intra uterine life, unaffected by GA, FW or BPD. Its mean value was 6.8 ±RESULTS: 1.4mm. No signicant difference between right and left sides was observed. The value that increased across GA was CAD & HSW which indicated the increasing thickness of the cerebral tissue.