ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1595265
This article is part of the Research TopicPOCUS for Neonates: Advancing Care with Point-of-Care UltrasoundView all 3 articles
Diagnostic value of prenatal ultrasound in the typing of fetal esophageal atresia
Provisionally accepted
- Shandong Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Jinan, China
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To investigate the prenatal ultrasound image features and diagnostic value of fetal esophageal atresia (EA). Methods: The clinical and prenatal ultrasound data of 24 fetuses with suspected esophageal atresia diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound and/or postpartum ultrasound at Shandong Maternal and Child Health Hospital between February 2022 and November 2024 were retrospectively analyzed, and the prenatal ultrasound diagnostic characteristics of different types of esophageal atresia were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Twenty-four cases of esophageal atresia were detected by prenatal and/or postpartum ultrasound. Among the 11 patients who were lost to follow-up or with no clear diagnosis after birth, the confirmation rate with prenatal ultrasound was 92% (12) among the 13 cases with confirmation by postpartum surgery or anatomy, with a classification concordance rate of 77% (10/13). Two cases of type IIIA EA were misdiagnosed as type IIIB, and one case of type IIIB EA was missed. The proportion of other malformations was 77% (10/13), and the detection rate of chromosomal abnormalities was 15% (2/13). Conclusion: Prenatal ultrasound can be used to diagnose and assess the classification and combined malformations of esophageal atresia effectively, providing an strong basis for clinical decision-making.
Keywords: Esophageal Atresia, Ultrasound examination, Prenatal Diagnosis, Classification, Congenital malformations
Received: 17 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Song, Zhang, Sheng, Wang, Han, Gao and Yin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hong Yin, Shandong Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Jinan, China
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