Background
The detection of increased nuchal translucency is crucial for the assessment risk
of aneuploidies and other fetal anomalies.
Objective
This study aimed to investigate the ability of a transverse view of the fetal head
to detect increased fetal nuchal translucency at 11 to 13 weeks of gestation.
Study Design
This was a prospective study enrolling a nonconsecutive series of women who attended
our outpatient clinic from January 2020 to April 2021 for combined screening and were
examined by operators certified by the Fetal Medicine Foundation. In each patient,
nuchal translucency measurements were obtained both from a median sagittal view and
from a transverse view. A second sonologist blinded to the results of the first examination
obtained another measurement to assess intermethod and interobsever reproducibility.
Results
A total of 1023 women were enrolled. An excellent correlation was found between sagittal
and transverse nuchal translucency measurements, with a mean difference of 0.01 mm
(95% confidence interval, −0.01 to 0.02). No systematic difference was found between
the 2 techniques. The inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient,
0.957; 95% confidence interval, 0.892–0.983) and intrarater reliability (intraclass
correlation coefficient, 0.976; 95% confidence interval, 0.941–0.990) of axial measurements
were almost perfect. Transverse measurements of 3.0 mm identified all cases with sagittal
measurements of ≥3.0 with a specificity of 99.7%; transverse measurements of >3.2
mm identified all cases with sagittal measurements of 3.5 mm with a specificity of
99.7%. The time required to obtain transverse nuchal translucency measurements was
considerably shorter than for sagittal measurements, particularly when the fetus had
an unfavorable position.
Conclusion
When the sonogram is performed by an expert sonologist, the difference in nuchal translucency
measurement obtained with a transverse or sagittal plane is minimal. Increased nuchal
translucency can be reliably identified by using transverse views, and in some cases,
this may technically be advantageous.
Key words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 02, 2022
Accepted:
May 26,
2022
Received in revised form:
May 26,
2022
Received:
May 10,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Cite this article as: Montaguti E, Rizzo R, Diglio J, et al. Increased nuchal translucency can be ascertained using transverse planes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2022;XX:x.ex–x.ex.
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