An incidental finding of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm during cesarean section: A case report.

Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms are rare and difficult to diagnose preoperatively because of a lack of characteristic symptoms. A 24-year-old female with no symptoms before pregnancy underwent an elective cesarean section at 38 weeks of gestation because of cephalo-pelvic disproportion. Although no abnormalities were detected in the newborn, uterus, or uterine adnexa, a sausage-like, swollen appendix was noted. The patient underwent appendectomy. Pathology showed the tumor was a low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm.

Feasibility assessment for successfully visualizing the fetal heart utilizing spatiotemporal image correlation.

PURPOSE: Spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) is an excellent imaging modality for observing the fetal heart. High-quality STIC volume data are needed for an antenatal anatomic survey to diagnose congenital heart disease. We aimed to clarify the causes of unsuccessful STIC volume data acquisition and describe a more accurate, efficient STIC examination. METHODS: This cross-sectional study of 1124 women with fetuses assessed risk factors for unsuccessful acquisition of STIC volume data. Logistic regression analysis quantified the relation between unsuccessful acquisition and clinical variables, including maternal body mass index (BMI), shadowing artifacts due to unexpected fetal limb movement (SAU), estimated fetal weight (EFW), gestational age (GA), use of volume rendering images in four-dimensional ultrasonography (4D-US), fetal heart rate (FHR), maternal age, anterior placenta, and prior lower abdominal surgery. RESULTS: STIC volume data acquisition was unsuccessful in 210 of 1124 (18.6%) cases. SAU, BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2, not using volume rendering images in 4D-US, EFW ≥ 1300 g, and anterior placenta were independent risk factors for unsuccessful STIC data acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: Avoiding SAU was the most important factor for accurate, efficient STIC evaluations for diagnosing congenital heart disease antenatally. The risk was not explained by lack of sonographer proficiency. Volume rendering images in 4D-US is a promising approach to successful acquisition of STIC volume data.

HDlive rendering images of the fetal stomach: a preliminary report.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to show reconstruction of the fetal stomach using the HDlive rendering mode in ultrasound. METHODS: Seventeen healthy singleton fetuses at 18-34 weeks' gestational age were observed using the HDlive rendering mode of ultrasound in utero. RESULTS: In all of the fetuses, we identified specific spatial structures, including macroscopic anatomical features (e.g., the pyrous, cardia, fundus, and great curvature) of the fetal stomach, using the HDlive rendering mode. In particular, HDlive rendering images showed remarkably fine details that appeared as if they were being viewed under an endoscope, with visible rugal folds after 27 weeks' gestational age. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the HDlive rendering mode can be used as an additional method for evaluating the fetal stomach. The HDlive rendering mode shows detailed 3D structural images and anatomically realistic images of the fetal stomach. This technique may be effective in prenatal diagnosis for examining detailed information of fetal organs.

Three-dimensional and four-dimensional HDlive-rendered images of thanatophoric dysplasia.

We present herein our first experience with a case of thanatophoric dysplasia (type I) that was diagnosed during the second trimester using three- and four-dimensional HDlive ultrasonography. The HDlive rendering mode clearly showed the anatomical features of thanatophoric dysplasia: external malformations and skeletal abnormalities, including extremely short limbs, flattened vertebral bodies, and short horizontal ribs, among others. HDlive can provide valuable, highly realistic images for the differential diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia. It may also play an important complementary role when conventional two- and three-dimensional ultrasonography does not provide sufficient definition.

Three-dimensional high-definition flow in the diagnosis of placental lakes.

Placental lakes are sonolucent areas often found in the normal placenta. Most of them are asymptomatic. They are sometimes related to placenta accreta or intrauterine fetal growth restriction, among other conditions. Although Doppler sonography is useful for evaluating noxious placental lakes, it is not easy to adapt Doppler studies to conventional two-dimensional color Doppler sonography because of the low-velocity blood flow and high vascularity in the placenta. Here, we demonstrate how three-dimensional high-definition imaging of flow provides a novel visual depiction of placental lakes, which helps substantially with the differential diagnosis. As far as we know, there have been no previous reports of observation of placental lakes using three-dimensional high-definition imaging of flow.