We have drawn the growth charts for the pons and vermis during pregnancy and described the normal ultrasound morphology of the brainstem. Knowledge of these morphological and biometric data could facilitate early screening for pontocerebellar hypoplasia.

Oral poster abstracts studied with specially developed catheter based high-resolution, real-time miniature ultrasound transducer. Each brain mantle and secondary brain vesicles could be clearly visualized, and thickness of telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon and rhombencephalon were measured. The normal range of embryonic brain mantle measurements for each day of pregnancy was determined. A linear relationships were found between the gestational age and telencephalon thickness (R 2 = 51.9%), diencephalon thickness (R 2 = 62.2%), mesencephalon thickness (R 2 = 59.2%), and rhombencephalon thickness (R 2 = 47.8%), respectively. A linear relationships were also found between the crown-rump length and telencephalon thickness (R 2 = 55.0%), diencephalon thickness (R 2 = 58.3%), mesencephalon thickness (R 2 = 55.0%), and rhombencephalon thickness (R 2 = 52.3%), respectively. These results suggest that intrauterine sonography provide an accurate embryonic brain mantle measurement value in utero. Moreover, intrauterine sonography may become an important modality in future embryonal research and in detection of embryonic brain developmental disorders in the early first-trimester pregnancy.

Poster abstracts underwent detailed anatomy scan, multiplanar magnetic resonance examination, fetal echocardiography and karyotyping. Results: Among a total number of 29 cases of US isolated borderline ventriculomegaly at the first presentation, we identified three cases in which a further US examination disclosed an enlargement of subarachnoid spaces. The mean gestational age at the time of diagnosis was 26 weeks (range 21-32 weeks). All cases showed mild ventricular dilatation at the level of the atrium (12 mm in two cases and 11 mm in the third case), with bilateral enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces, predominantly in the parieto-occipital areas. MRI did not show abnormal signal within brain parenchyma or loss of normal layering of the developing brain. All cases demonstrated benign external hydrocephalus postnatally. No karyotypic and/or cardiac abnormalities were present. Conclusion: Fetal borderline ventricular dilatation and prominent subarachnoid spaces in posterior distribution can be considered an early stage of benign external hydrocephalus that is well depicted by prenatal MRI.

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