Ultrasound screening for spina bifida: cranial and cerebellar signs

Abstract

Ultrasound records were examined retrospectively in the cases of 70 fetuses with open spina bifida diagnosed by ultrasonography at 16-23 weeks' gestation. Biparietal diameter was below the 5th centile for gestation in 61% and head circumference measurements in 26%. The anterior horn of the lateral cerebral ventricle to hemisphere ratio was above the 95th centile in 77%, and ventriculomegaly of the posterior horn of the lateral venricle was observed in 86%. In the 54 fetuses for which pictures were taken at the level of the biparietal diameter a scalloping of the frontal bones (the lemon sign) was seen. In 12 of 21 fetuses for which a suboccipital bregmatic view of the cranium had been obtained, the cerebellar hemispheres were curved anteriorly with simultaneous obliteration of the cisterna magna (the banana sign); in a further 8 cases the cerebellum was not displayed. None of these changes was seen in 100 patients presenting consecutively for routine ultrasound examination in the second trimester.