SONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF THE FETAL PALPEBRAL FISSURE SLANT—AN ADDITIONAL TOOL IN THE PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS OF SYNDROMES

Several syndromes and aneuploidies are associated with ocular abnormalities including up‐ and down‐slanting palpebral fissures. We describe a technique for the sonographic assessment of the fetal palpebral fissure slant which was used in 70 normal pregnancies from 14 to 36 weeks of gestation. In a frontal view of the fetal face, the inferior angle between the palpebral fissure and the midline of the skull was determined. The median angle was 89°, with a range from 87° to 90°. In selected cases, sonographic assessment of the fetal palpebral fissure slant may be a helpful additional tool in the prenatal diagnosis of syndromes, as demonstrated in a fetus with Seckel syndrome associated with downslanting palpebral fissures and in a fetus with Down's syndrome associated with upslanting palpebral fissures. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  U. Gabbay,et al.  The development of the fetal eye: In utero ultrasonographic measurements of the vitreous and lens , 1995, Prenatal diagnosis.

[2]  B. Pletcher,et al.  Interstitial duplication of proximal 22q: phenotypic overlap with cat eye syndrome. , 1995, American journal of medical genetics.

[3]  A. Schinzel,et al.  Trisomy 17p11‐pter: unbalanced pericentric inversion, inv(17)(p11q25) in two patients, unbalanced translocations t(4;17)(q27;pl1) in a newborn and t(4;17)(pl6;p11.2) in a fetus , 1995, Clinical dysmorphology.

[4]  D. Altman,et al.  Measurement of the fetal mandible—feasibility and construction of a centile chart , 1993, Prenatal diagnosis.

[5]  N. Setian,et al.  Macrosomia, obesity, macrocephaly and ocular abnormalities (MOMO syndrome) in two unrelated patients: delineation of a newly recognized overgrowth syndrome. , 1993, American journal of medical genetics.

[6]  P. Twining,et al.  The facial profile in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. , 1993, Clinical radiology.

[7]  R. Gershoni-baruch,et al.  First‐ and second‐trimester diagnosis of fetal ocular defects and associated anomalies: Report of eight cases , 1991, Obstetrics and gynecology.

[8]  T. Yoshizato,et al.  Fetal eye movement assessed with real-time ultrasonography: are there rapid and slow eye movements? , 1990, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[9]  G. Prescott,et al.  Fetal facial abnormalities identified during obstetric sonography. , 1986, Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

[10]  T. Koyanagi,et al.  Functional development of human eye movement in utero assessed quantitatively with real-time ultrasound. , 1986, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[11]  J C Birnholz,et al.  Ultrasonic fetal ophthalmology. , 1985, Early human development.

[12]  E. Shalev,et al.  Microphthalmia–prenatal ultrasonic diagnosis: A case report , 1985, Prenatal diagnosis.

[13]  F. Bieber,et al.  The fetal face: ultrasound examination. , 1984, Radiology.

[14]  H. Prechtl,et al.  Eye movements in the human fetus and newborn , 1983, Behavioural Brain Research.

[15]  N. Maklad,et al.  Ultrasonic findings in fetal cyclopia. A case report. , 1983, The Journal of reproductive medicine.

[16]  P Jeanty,et al.  Fetal ocular biometry by ultrasound. , 1982, Radiology.

[17]  Jason C. Birnholz,et al.  The development of human fetal eye movement patterns. , 1981, Science.

[18]  D. Mm,et al.  Ultrasonographic visualization of the fetal eye. , 1985 .