A preliminary study on the postnatal neurodevelopment of fetus with ventriculomegaly

Objective To study the neurological prognosis of neonates with ventriculomegaly and its influencing factors. Method A retrospective study was conducted among neonates with ventriculomegaly in Peking University First Hospital from January 2013 to December 2015. A series of cranial ultrasonography were performed after birth and the Gesell development scale was completed after six months. χ2 test and two-independent-sample t test were used for statistical analysis. Result Among 103 cases of ventriculomegaly, 95 cases (92.2%) had mildly enlarged lateral ventricles and 8 cases (7.8%) significantly enlarged.83 cases received serial cranial ultrasound examinations after birth. The lateral ventricles of 9 patients (10.8%) bacame wider and 74 (89.2%) not.The Gesell development scales were completed in 65 cases 6 months after birth. Among them, 8 patients with widening lateral ventricles got poor prognosis (100%). Among 57 patients without progressively widening lateral ventricles, 6 (10.5%) had poor prognosis. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). No correlation was found between the severity of the lateral ventricle widening and the neurological outcome (P=1.000). There were 2 cases with other abnormalities, and 1 case got poor prognosis on follow-up. Conclusion Most neonatal ventriculomegaly patients have mild and isolated lateral ventricle enlargement.Most of them remain stable or gradually return to normal. The patients with progressively widening lateral ventricles are likely to have adverse neurological prognosis. Key words: Fetus; Lateral ventricles; Ultrasonography; Neurodevelopment; Infant, newborn