Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris
Background: With advancing technology in medical field, fetal images has become very convenient and cost-effective. Recent guidelines of fetal imaging has suggested to look for conus medullaris (CM) in the fetal antenatal scanning. This may help in early detection of neural tube defects (NTDs) which...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | National Journal of Clinical Anatomy |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NJCA.NJCA_183_24 |
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| author | Varsha Shenoy Prathima Prabhu Preeval Shreya Crasta |
| author_facet | Varsha Shenoy Prathima Prabhu Preeval Shreya Crasta |
| author_sort | Varsha Shenoy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background:
With advancing technology in medical field, fetal images has become very convenient and cost-effective. Recent guidelines of fetal imaging has suggested to look for conus medullaris (CM) in the fetal antenatal scanning. This may help in early detection of neural tube defects (NTDs) which should be the purpose of antenatal scanning. A low-lying CM is defined as its position below L3 vertebra. This may suggest underlying congenital malformations. This study was done to locate fetal CM at various gestational ages (GAs) and to measure the CM to last sacral vertebral distance (CS distance) at various GA and to correlate with other GA ultrasonographic parameters such as biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL).
Methodology:
Fetal antenatal scan images were utilized to locate the position of CM and to measure the distance between CM and last sacral vertebra (CS distance). The images were grouped as Group 1 (≤20 weeks of GA), Group 2 (21–30 weeks of GA), and Group 3 (31–40 weeks of GA).
Results:
A total of 110 fetal scan images were studied. In 77 images, CM location was found to be at L2. None of the images had a low-lying CM. There was a strong positive linear correlation between CS distance at all GAs with FL, BPD, HC, AC, and GA.
Conclusions:
CM position and CS distance are easily measurable in fetal antenatal scanning. It should be a routine to look for CM during antenatal scanning for early diagnosis of NTDs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5564e38aa4cd4801b145e9311709730d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2277-4025 2321-2780 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | National Journal of Clinical Anatomy |
| spelling | doaj-art-5564e38aa4cd4801b145e9311709730d2025-08-20T03:09:12ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsNational Journal of Clinical Anatomy2277-40252321-27802025-01-01141253010.4103/NJCA.NJCA_183_24Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus MedullarisVarsha ShenoyPrathima PrabhuPreeval Shreya CrastaBackground: With advancing technology in medical field, fetal images has become very convenient and cost-effective. Recent guidelines of fetal imaging has suggested to look for conus medullaris (CM) in the fetal antenatal scanning. This may help in early detection of neural tube defects (NTDs) which should be the purpose of antenatal scanning. A low-lying CM is defined as its position below L3 vertebra. This may suggest underlying congenital malformations. This study was done to locate fetal CM at various gestational ages (GAs) and to measure the CM to last sacral vertebral distance (CS distance) at various GA and to correlate with other GA ultrasonographic parameters such as biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL). Methodology: Fetal antenatal scan images were utilized to locate the position of CM and to measure the distance between CM and last sacral vertebra (CS distance). The images were grouped as Group 1 (≤20 weeks of GA), Group 2 (21–30 weeks of GA), and Group 3 (31–40 weeks of GA). Results: A total of 110 fetal scan images were studied. In 77 images, CM location was found to be at L2. None of the images had a low-lying CM. There was a strong positive linear correlation between CS distance at all GAs with FL, BPD, HC, AC, and GA. Conclusions: CM position and CS distance are easily measurable in fetal antenatal scanning. It should be a routine to look for CM during antenatal scanning for early diagnosis of NTDs.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NJCA.NJCA_183_24antenatal scanfilum terminaleneural tube defectsacral vertebraspinal cord |
| spellingShingle | Varsha Shenoy Prathima Prabhu Preeval Shreya Crasta Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris National Journal of Clinical Anatomy antenatal scan filum terminale neural tube defect sacral vertebra spinal cord |
| title | Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris |
| title_full | Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris |
| title_fullStr | Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris |
| title_short | Ultrasonographic Prenatal Assessment of Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris |
| title_sort | ultrasonographic prenatal assessment of position of fetal conus medullaris |
| topic | antenatal scan filum terminale neural tube defect sacral vertebra spinal cord |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/NJCA.NJCA_183_24 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT varshashenoy ultrasonographicprenatalassessmentofpositionoffetalconusmedullaris AT prathimaprabhu ultrasonographicprenatalassessmentofpositionoffetalconusmedullaris AT preevalshreyacrasta ultrasonographicprenatalassessmentofpositionoffetalconusmedullaris |