ANTENATAL DIAGNOSIS OF ABERRANT UMBILICAL VESSELS

Objective: To evaluate the antenatal screening of aberrant umbilical v essels and assess the association of fetal abnormality with these enti ties, Study Design: 444 pregnant woman were studied with routine obste tric ultrasound and Doppler color flow imaging in late second trimeste r or early third trimester, Fetal growth and anomaly, and the number o f umbilical cord vessels were screened, Results: Out of 444 subjects, 3 cases with discordant umbilical artery, 2 with four vessels in the u mbilical cord, and 1 with single umbilical artery were detected (1.4%) . Fetal anomaly was noted in 2 of 6 cases with aberrant umbilical vess els (33.3%). Conclusion: These results suggest that antenatal screenin g of umbilical cord vessels is necessary for detection of fetal anomal ies.