To retrospectively analyze the pregnancy outcome and prognosis of fetal lateral ventriculomegaly, analyze the consistency of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of lateral ventriculomegaly, and further explore the ultrasound cut-off value of the lateral ventricle for further clinical consultation.

A total of 100 consecutive singleton cases diagnosed by ultrasound with lateral ventriculomegaly or hydrocephalus at Shenzhen People's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2016 were selected as an observation group. According to the width of the lateral ventricle, they were divided into a mild group (＞10 to ≤12 mm, 59 cases), moderate group (＞12 to ≤15 mm, 24 cases), and severe group ＞15 mm, 17 cases). The patients were also divided into an isolated ventriculomegaly (IVM) group (51 cases) or a non-isolated ventriculomegaly (NIVM) group (49 cases) according to whether or not they had other diseases. Another 141 consecutive singletons who had a width of the lateral ventricle of ＞8 mm to ≤10 mm were selected as a control group. The clinical, laboratory, and MRI data and pregnancy outcome were recorded. The χ² test was used to analyze the difference of pregnancy outcome and prognosis among the mild group, moderate group, severe group, and control group and the difference of abnormal pregnancy outcomes between the IVM and NIVM groups. The Kappa test was used to analyze the consistency of ultrasound and MRI in the diagnosis of lateral ventriculomegaly. ROC curve was used to analyze the cut-off value of the ultrasound lateral ventricle.

The positive rates at birth in the mild group, moderate group, severe group, and control group were 6.5% (3/46) ,22.2% (2/9), 60.0% (3/5), and 5.5% (7/128), respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ²=22.148, P=0.001). The rate of abnormal pregnancy outcomes in the IVM and NIVM groups were 33.3% (17/51) and 63.3% (31/49), respectively, with a statistically significant difference (χ²=8.970, P=0.005). A total of 36 cases underwent prenatal and/or postnatal MRI examination. The coincidence rate of ultrasound was 77.8% (28/36), and the supplementary diagnosis rate of MRI was 19.4% (7/36). Ultrasound is generally consistent with MRI in the diagnosis of lateral ventriculomegaly (Kappa=0.543, P=0.001). The ROC curve analysis showed that the diagnostic cut-off value of the lateral ventricle suggested by ultrasound was 9.7 mm.

The more severe the lateral ventriculomegaly, the worse the prognosis of the fetus. The prognosis of NIVM is worse than that of IVM. Ultrasound is generally consistent with MRI in the diagnosis of fetal lateral ventriculomegaly, and MRI has a higher detection rate for some types of abnormalities (such as cortex, white matter, and intracranial hemorrhage). Prenatal ultrasound is an important method for the diagnosis of lateral ventriculomegaly. Further prenatal consultation should be given when the width of the lateral ventricle measured by ultrasound is greater than 9.7 mm.