Congenital central nervous system anomalies: Tenyear single center experience on a challenging issue in perinatal medicine

Abstract

Objective: Our goal was to highlight the prenatal diagnosis and management of central nervous system (CNS) anomalies through sharing ourclinic’s experience.Material and Methods: We evaluated prenatal findings and postnatal outcomes of neonates who had a CNS anomaly diagnosis in our clinicover a ten-year period. A total of 183 cases with various CNS anomalies were included in the study. Birth or termination preferences of motherswere recorded in all cases, and postnatal diagnosis concordance and prognosis after surgical procedures were evaluated in mothers who choseto continue the pregnancy.Results: The mean maternal age was 28.2±5.5 years, mean gravida was 2.2±1.3, and the mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.5±5.5 weeks.Seventy-five out of 183 (41%) patients chose to terminate their pregnancy. Twenty babies (26.6%) in the termination of pregnancy group hadadditional anomalies. One hundred eight patients gave birth at our institution. The mean birth weight was 3060±647.5 g, the mean gestationalweek at delivery was 37.9±1.7 weeks, and mean APGAR score (5th minute) was 8.8±2.3. Four neonates died on the postpartum first day. Thepostnatal diagnosis of 60 of the 108 (55.5%) patients who gave birth was concordant with the prenatal diagnosis, and 32 of the 108 (29.6%) babiesunderwent surgical interventions.Conclusion: CNS anomalies have a broad spectrum and variable prognoses. This study highlights the limitations of prenatal diagnoses, andthe need for parents to have this information in order to determine the course of their pregnancy and prepare themselves for the postnatalchallenging treatment/rehabilitation process. (J Turk Ger Gynecol Assoc 2019; 20: 170-7)