1. Department of Gynecology, Félix Guyon Hospital, 97400 Saint-Denis, Ile de la Réunion, France.
2. Department of Gynecology, Communal’s Hôpital, 97300 Saint-Benois, Ile de la Réunion, France.
Case report
This was the third pregnancy of a non-consanguinous couple (32 year-old - G3P2). At 12 weeks of gestation an ultrasound revealed a “posterior thoracic cyst¨ and the patient was sent to our unit one week later.
We performed ultrasound examinations at 13, 14, 16 and 17 weeks of pregnancy and we observed:
- A thoracic cyst structure without abnormal vascularization. The spine was normal and no vertebral defects were seen.
- Normal brain at 13 weeks of gestation. At 14-16 weeks we suspected an Arnold-Chiari malformation, and at 17 weeks we noted enlargement of the lateral ventricles within normal limits.
Superior and inferior extremities were normal. 3D views of the ears were normal too.
Abdominal fetal sonography was normal, without kidney or hepatic dysplasia.
Fetal movements were physiological.
The serological tests were normal (Toxoplasmosis, Rubeola, CMV, Herpes, Chikungunya).
Amniocentesis was practiced and the fetal caryotype was 46, XX. The alpha F-P level was normal.
Our diagnostic was a thoracic meningocele with normal bone spine.
The parents were informed. Nevertheless, because of Arnold-Chiari syndrome, the parents decided interruption of the pregnancy.
Post-mortem analysis confirmed our diagnosis of posterior thoracic meningocele.
13 weeks
Images 1-4: 2D and 3D images in different planes at the level of the thoracic spine show a cystic mass without abnormal vascularization. The vertebral bodies were normal without signs of dysraphism.