IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 46 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.12891/ceog4787.2019

Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology (CEOG) is published by IMR Press from Volume 47 Issue 1 (2020). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.

Open Access Case Report
Tracheal stenosis due to vascular rings: its possible prenatal diagnosis based on four cases of vascular rings with or without eventual tracheal stenosis
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1 Department of Peditarics, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan
3 Department of Radiology, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan
*Correspondence: hironori@jichi.ac.jp (H. TAKAHASHI)
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2019, 46(5), 828–830; https://doi.org/10.12891/ceog4787.2019
Published: 10 October 2019
Abstract

Vascular rings encircle the trachea and esophagus, and sometimes compress these organs, causing trachea/esophagus-compression-related symptoms. Four fetuses were diagnosed with vascular rings and treated in this tertiary institute. One infant showed the manifestation of tracheal stenosis after birth, whereas the remaining three did not. The authors analyzed the relationship between pre- vs. post-natal images and postnatal tracheal stenosis. In the infant with tracheal stenosis, a three-vessel tracheal (3VT) view by fetal echocardiography clearly showed the tracheal wall; however, a tracheal lumen was not evident. In the other three infants without tracheal stenosis, the tracheal walls were clearly observable and an echolucent tracheal lumen was evident. Fetal MRI also showed the loss of the continuity of the tracheal lumen. These two findings, an invisible tracheal lumen on fetal echocardiography and loss of tracheallumen-continuity on fetal MRI, may indicate tracheal stenosis and accompanying air-way-obstruction symptoms.

Keywords
Fetal echocardiography
Magnetic resonance imaging
Three-vessel tracheal view
Tracheal stenosis
Vascular ring
Figures
Figure 1.
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