How the training of ultrasonographers influences the certainty of prenatal detection of congenital malformations of interest to the pediatric surgeon.

Background: The training needed for doing obstetric ultrasounds is rarely reported. The aim of this study was to determine whether the training of the ultrasonographer influences the prenatal diagnostic certainty of some congenital malformations.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of antepartum sonographic findings of newborn infants found ultimately to have a congenital anomaly in a tertiary level pediatric reference center. Data were collected on admission for consecutive patients at a tertiary-level pediatric reference center. The mother´s pregnancy and birth demographic variables and those of the prenatal ultrasound (PUS) were analyzed and correlated with the final diagnosis.

Results: Sixty-seven neonates were included. All cases underwent PUS with a mean of 4.6. Prenatal diagnosis was established in 24 cases (35.8%). Thirteen surgical anomalies were detected, particularly anorectal malformation and gastroschisis. The accuracy of PUS was associated with the training of the physician performing the PUS, whereby PUS with the greatest accuracy were performed by gynecologists and maternal-fetal specialists against radiologists and general practitioners (p = 0.005). Patients without an accurate prenatal diagnosis had a greater risk of presenting comorbidities (relative risk [RR]: 1.65, p = < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.299-2.106).

Conclusions: In our setting, prenatal diagnosis of these malformations is directly determined by the training of the person performing the ultrasound.