Antenatal diagnosis of aberrant umbilical vessels

Objective: To evaluate the antenatal screening of aberrant umbilical vessels and assess the association of fetal abnormality with these entities, Study Design: 444 pregnant woman were studied with routine obstetric ultrasound and Doppler color flow imaging in late second trimester or early third trimester, Fetal growth and anomaly, and the number of umbilical cord vessels were screened, Results: Out of 444 subjects, 3 cases with discordant umbilical artery, 2 with four vessels in the umbilical cord, and 1 with single umbilical artery were detected (1.4%). Fetal anomaly was noted in 2 of 6 cases with aberrant umbilical vessels (33.3%). Conclusion: These results suggest that antenatal screening of umbilical cord vessels is necessary for detection of fetal anomalies.