Parental counselling and autopsy results: A retrospective diagnostic cohort study at a multidisciplinary fetal neurology clinic.
Avi Shariv, Michal Gafner, Zvi Leibovitz and 10 others
PMID 40836690WHAT IT FOUND
Prenatal imaging matched autopsy findings in 79% of fetuses terminated for brain abnormalities.
Microscopic examination provided valuable new information in 41% of cases, sometimes changing the diagnosis or revealing disruptive causes instead of malformations.
Key findings
01Full concordance between prenatal imaging and gross pathology was found in 79% of cases.
02Microscopic examination provided valuable information in 41% of fetuses, often redefining the diagnosis or cause.
03In discordant cases, imaging suggested cortical malformations but autopsy revealed disruptive aetiologies like haemorrhage or ischaemia.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Retrospective design over a decade means imaging technology and protocols (e.g., MRI availability) changed during the study period. Autopsy is not routinely performed in all terminations due to lack of parental consent, potentially introducing selection bias. Autolytic changes can degrade brain tissue, limiting diagnostic accuracy; two cases were excluded for this reason. Pathologists may not be fully aware of specific imaging findings, potentially missing relevant anatomical areas during sampling.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume prenatal imaging is definitive for all brain abnormalities. Microscopy changed the diagnosis or cause in a significant minority of cases, and genetic findings alone were insufficient to justify termination in one discordant case.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →