Antenatal ultrasound diagnoses of gross lymphatic system abnormalities were made in three fetuses. Although the diagnosis was made in only 1 fetus at a stage early enough in pregnancy to allow selective termination, knowledge of the abnormality in the remaining 2 fetuses proved to be valuable for subsequent management of those pregnancies. It is stressed that the extent of the abnormality must be carefully assessed because of the possibility of corrective surgery should the lesion be small and that the parents must be given detailed counseling before any definitive measures are taken.

SUMMARY In summary, real‐time ultrasound is now established. Clinicians will use it as an adjunct to physical examination and it is up to the various professional bodies to see that their trainees learn both its usefulness and its limitations. Imaging specialists will chiefly use real‐time ultrasound as an adjunct to static B‐mode scanning, moulding the method to the problem involved and remembering that they are expected to produce the best possible answer from the best possible pictures. Indeed, imaging specialists should go one further and recommend the best modality for the clinical question in hand whether it be radio‐nuclide scanning, computerised tomography, ultrasound or conventional radiology and not be gripped in the vyce of their earlier training and experience.