What is a minor malformation?

Because the growth status of the fetus is different in each stage of pregnancy, the maternal examinations required are also different. During pregnancy, B-ultrasound is an essential test item. It can effectively detect the presence of the fetus in the mother's belly and whether the fetus has congenital malformations. Among them, the minor fetal malformation examination is a test item that many pregnant women must undergo. What does the minor fetal malformation examination mainly conduct?

What to check for minor anomalies

The first ultrasound examination: at 6 to 8 weeks, mainly to exclude or promptly detect ectopic pregnancy (ectopic pregnancy) or abnormal pregnancy (hydatidiform mole, etc.), and to understand whether the embryo is alive.

The second ultrasound examination: at 11 to 14 weeks, mainly to measure the fetal nt, combined with maternal serum blood test, to assess the risk of fetal chromosomal abnormalities.

The third ultrasound examination: at 18 to 24 weeks, is mainly for systematic screening of fetal development and diagnosis of fatal fetal malformations, including anencephaly, encephalocele, open spina bifida, visceral eversion due to chest and abdominal wall defects, single-chamber heart, and fatal chondroplasia. This ultrasound examination is particularly important because, at this stage of fetal development, the fetus does not occupy too much space in the uterus, so there is more room for movement and the fetus can move more freely. Ultrasound can observe the morphological structure of most of the fetus' organs from multiple observation angles and screen out fetal malformations.

4th and 5th ultrasounds: at 32 to 38 weeks, to rule out some fetal developmental abnormalities that appear in late pregnancy, to understand the fetal position, placental position and maturity, amount of amniotic fluid, etc. It can determine whether the umbilical cord is entangled in the fetus, how many weeks it is around the neck, and how tight it is. It can also understand the blood flow of the umbilical cord and assess the safety of the fetus in the womb. It provides valuable reference indicators for clinicians to choose the timing and method of delivery.

Things to note when doing a fetal anomaly screening

1. Examination time: It is suitable to examine within 22-28 weeks of pregnancy. Beyond this period, the structures of the fetus' face, limbs, heart, etc. may not be fully observed or cannot be displayed clearly; if there is too little or no amniotic fluid, these fetal structures may also not be displayed clearly.

2. Instruments used: A high-resolution color Doppler blood flow imager should be used for examination. Four-dimensional color ultrasound generally requires only the above-mentioned routine ultrasound examination contents for black and white B-ultrasound. Generally, black and white B-ultrasound is not used for detailed and systematic ultrasound examination of fetal malformations.

Through the introduction in this article, we can see that the minor fetal malformation screening is actually a series of examination methods to examine the fetus in the pregnant woman's belly to make sure that the baby in the pregnant woman's belly has no deformities, thereby ensuring the birth of a very excellent baby and improving the quality of the population.