Volume 38, Issue 5 p. 337-343
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Improved diagnosis in nonimmune hydrops fetalis using a standardized algorithm

Marie Laterre

Corresponding Author

Marie Laterre

Centre for Human Genetics, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

Obstetrics Department, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

Correspondence

Marie Laterre, Centre de Génétique Humaine—CGH, Cliniques universitaires St. Luc, UCL, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.

Email: [email protected]

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Pierre Bernard

Pierre Bernard

Obstetrics Department, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

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Miika Vikkula

Miika Vikkula

Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

Center for Vascular Anomalies, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology (WELBIO), de Duve Institute, UCL., Brussels, Belgium

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Yves Sznajer

Yves Sznajer

Centre for Human Genetics, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium

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First published: 02 March 2018
Citations: 19

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to outline the disease etiology in a cohort of fetuses prenatally diagnosed with nonimmune hydrops fetalis (NIHF).

Methods

Based on a literature review, we defined precise criteria to select the NIHF cases. Those were further classified into 14 categories. To complete this first step, a literature review was performed by using homogeneous criteria to compare our results.

Results

Over the 10-year period, 102 fetuses were diagnosed with NIHF and included in the analysis. The etiology was identified in 86.3% (88/102) of them, with diagnostic distribution from the most prevalent to the least frequent (number of fetuses; %) being: chromosomal (33/102; 32.4%), lymphatic dysplasia (14; 13.7%), cardiovascular (10; 9.8%), “syndromic” (10; 9.8%), infection (8; 7.8%), and hematologic (8; 7.8%).

Conclusion

This literature review enabled us to emphasize the absence of homogeneous criteria used to define NIHF. When compared with literature, our data analysis highlighted the relevance of applying our full diagnostic approach to decrease the rate of idiopathic NIHF cases.