Keepsake Prenatal Ultrasound

Keepsake prenatal ultrasound: pros and cons of non-medically indicated imaging.

Does prenatal ultrasound increase risk of autism?

Many lay people still believe that vaccines—especially the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and vaccines with mercury-containing preservatives—have contributed to the increased rate of autism, despite the lack of scientific evidence to support such a notion. We owe it to our patients to show them that medical research is actively searching for factors that may truly be contributing to the in...

Prenatal Ultrasound Findings of Fetal Neoplasms

A variety of neoplasms can develop in each fetal organ. Most fetal neoplasms can be detected by careful prenatal ultrasonographic examination. Some neoplasms show specific ultrasonographic findings suggesting the differential diagnosis, but others do not. Knowledge of the presence of a neoplasm in the fetus may alter the prenatal management of a pregnancy and the mode of delivery, and facilitat...

Teaching prenatal ultrasound to family medicine residents.

Prenatal ultrasound is a powerful diagnostic tool, but there has been little research on how to teach ultrasound to family physicians. The available evidence supports teaching through didactics followed by supervised scanning. Didactic topics include physics and machine usage, indications, fetal biometry, anatomic survey, practice management, ethical issues, and resources. Supervised scanning r...

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of cystic biliary atresia

Nonvisualization of the gallbladder during the second trimester of pregnancy should prompt concern for biliary atresia. A normal-sized gallbladder with irregular and crenelated wall associated with a cyst of the extrahepatic tract should raise concern for cystic biliary atresia.