ABSTRACT
Congenital malformations of the fetal thorax are being diagnosed in the antenatal period with an increasing frequency, and the clinical outcomes in these fetuses seem to be quite different from conventional concepts and general belief. There is an emerging consensus that follow-up data on these fetuses in the first year of life indicates a far better outcome than previously believed. 1 Concurrent with this awareness, practitioners of fetal medicine have been witness to revolutions in neonatal anesthesia, neonatal surgical technique, and novel methods of in utero surgery. These factors, combined with a pressing social and legal need for informed parental counseling, have placed new responsibilities on the shoulders of the sonologist involved in the care of these pregnancies. Advances in transducer technology and computer software are changing the way in which ultrasound scans are performed today, and three-dimensional (3D) and real-time three-dimensional (4D) technology is being used extensively to gain and display anatomic and hemodynamic information. This chapter reviews the application of these newer techniques in enhancing the data that can be obtained by sonography.
