Retrospective analysis of 2054 cases from 24 hospitals underwent ultrasonic consultation in a tertiary prenatal diagnosis center in Beijing, China

Objectives To investigate the practices of prenatal ultrasound consultation in a region of the China and to describe the rate of concordance between the suspected anomaly and the final diagnosis of the referral examination. Methods Retrospective study with all cases referred from 24 hospitals (Beijing, China) to a tertiary prenatal diagnosis center for ultrasonic consultation in 2018. The concordance between the suspected ultrasonic signs of fetal abnormalities of the referrer and the ultrasonic consultation results were evaluated and divided into full concordance, partial concordance, and discordance. Results From 1938 patients with suspected ultrasonic signs, 2054 ultrasound consultation records were obtained. The most frequent anomalies for consultation in the first trimester (348, 91.3%) were cystic hygroma (CH), nuchal translucency (NT), or nuchal fold (NF) thickening, followed by signs of brain abnormalities in the second (173, 22.4%) and the third (182, 34.1%) trimester. The discordant rates of the first single signs were 19.8% for the first trimester, 41.6% for the second trimester, and 37.4% for the third trimester, respectively. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that the discordance of the first single signs was relatively low in the first trimester and higher in the second and third trimesters. The number of sonographers could be increased to ensure timeliness, strengthen training for those with poor concordance rates by referring to appropriate guidelines, and reduce ultrasonic consultation for those with high consistency after further research to save medical resources.

Automated summary

This study investigated the practices of prenatal ultrasound consultation in a specific region of China and examined the concordance between suspected fetal abnormalities and the final diagnosis. The study found that the concordance rate was relatively low in the second and third trimesters compared to the first trimester. The researchers suggest increasing the number of sonographers, providing training based on appropriate guidelines, and reducing unnecessary ultrasonic consultations to conserve medical resources.