The degree of antenatal ventriculomegaly is related to pediatric neurological morbidity.
Our hypothesis was that the degree of antenatally diagnosed cerebral ventriculomegaly is related to aneuploidy, perinatal mortality and long-term neurological morbidity. Ninety-one cases of ventriculomegaly identified from 1 June 1994 to 1 July 1999 were examined for prenatal, intrapartum and neonatal complications. Pediatric follow-up was reviewed for infants with ventriculomegaly from birth up to as long as 4 years. Minor neurological morbidity was defined as a score of 70-80 on the clinical adaptive test/clinical linguistic and auditory milestone scale and included mild motor or language delay. Major morbidity included a score of < 70, evidence of cerebral palsy, or seizure disorder. The incidence of neurological complications was compared, on the basis of the degree of ventriculomegaly, with group 1 being > 10-15 mm and group 2 being > 15 mm. Twenty-seven cases (18 with neural tube defects and nine with holoprosencephaly) were excluded. Among the remaining 64 patients, 39 had a ventricular diameter of > 10-15 mm and comprised group 1. Five of the 39 cases (12.8%), all with other ultrasound anomalies, elected to terminate. The incidence of aneuploidy in group 1 was 14.2%. Among the 19 cases with isolated ventriculomegaly, 17 (89%) were normal and two (11%) had minor neurological morbidity. In group 1 there were two cases associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Of the 25 cases in group 2, eight (32%), all with other ultrasound anomalies, elected to terminate. The incidence of aneuploidy in group 2 was 17.4%. For the nine cases with isolated ventriculomegaly of > 15 mm, one (11%) was normal (p < 0.001), five (56%) had minor neurological morbidity requiring a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (p = 0.035), and three (33%) had major neurological morbidity (p = 0.045) when compared to cases of isolated ventriculomegaly in group 1. There was one case of CMV infection in group 2. All perinatal deaths in both groups were associated with other anomalies. Amniocentesis to determine karyotype and the presence of CMV is warranted for all cases of ventriculomegaly of > 10 mm. The degree of antenatal ventriculomegaly is related to pediatric neurological morbidity and, when it is > 15 mm, it is associated with an increase in abnormal neurological development.