-Original-

Role of a Fetal Ultrasound Clinic in Promoting Multidisciplinary and Inter-Facility Perinatal Care

Yoshio Shima¹, Takehiko Fukami², Tsubasa Takahashi³, Takashi Sasaki⁴ and Makoto Migita⁵

¹Department of Neonatal Medicine, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
³Department of Pediatric Surgery, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan
⁴Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
⁵Department of Pediatrics, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan

Background: With the increasing rate of high-risk pregnancies, there is an increased need for early evaluation of at-risk fetuses. Fetal ultrasound imaging has become a pivotal part of this evaluation.
Methods: To evaluate the role played by a fetal ultrasound clinic in promoting comprehensive perinatal care of patients with high-risk pregnancies, we retrospectively analyzed the indications and findings of fetal scans and the outcomes of the examined fetuses collected over the past 7 years (2014-2020) by our institute, which is reorganized as a perinatal medical center.
Results: During the study period, we conducted 345 fetal scans in high-risk pregnancy cases. Of these, 158 cases (46%) were referrals from other institutes. Eighty-nine neonates were admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after being evaluated, of which 10 neonates underwent surgery during their NICU stays. Thirty-nine pregnant women were referred to other tertiary care hospitals mainly due to fetal diagnoses with complex cardiac anomalies. Fourteen cases resulted in intrauterine fetal death or artificial abortion.
Conclusions: Fetal ultrasound clinics have established their role in facilitating sophisticated regional perinatal care via multidisciplinary and inter-facility cooperation for high-risk pregnancy cases. In addition, providing psychological support and counseling for pregnant women whose fetuses are diagnosed with severe congenital anomalies should not be neglected.

J Nippon Med Sch 2022; 89: 337-341

Keywords
fetal ultrasound, prenatal diagnosis, multidisciplinary perinatal care

Correspondence to
Yoshio Shima, MD, Department of Neonatal Medicine, Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital, 1-396 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-8533, Japan
shima-p@nms.ac.jp

Received, August 14, 2021
Accepted, October 27, 2021