Purpose: to evaluate the accuracy of prenatal ultrasound in the diagnosis of nephrouropathies. Methods: the authors followed-up 127 pregnancies referred to the Fetal Medicine Center of UFMG with suspicion of these anomalies. Fetal biometry, growth, vitality, and associated malformations were evaluated. Finally, a detailed description of the renal system was made to define the prenatal morphologic diagnosis of the malformations to be compared with the postnatal diagnosis. Results: based on the kappa index (statistical method that measures the concordance between different measurements, methods or measurement instruments: below 0.40, poor agreement; between 0.40 and 0.75, good agreement; above 0.75, excellent ageement), the authors found an excellent concordance (kappa index 0.95). Among the 127 cases, there were only 9 misdiagnoses, all of them of obstructive uropathies: 6 cases showed different obstruction levels after delivery and in three cases there were confounding diagnosis with multicystic kidney. Conclusions: the detailed ultrasonographic description of the renal system is a good method for prenatal diagnosis of the fetal nephropathies, allowing some options to modify the outcome of these fetuses, like to send them to specialized centers, to anticipate delivery and even to apply intrauterine therapy, in order to preserve the renal function. Serial echography and amnioinfusion can be used to improve the precision of prenatal diagnosis.
Fetal malformation; Ultrasound; Prenatal diagnosis; Fetal nephrouropathies
