**1. Introduction**

Congenital hydrocephalus (CH) is a severe malformation which is often associated with other abnormalities. The prenatally diagnosed serious birth defects, especially those associated

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© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

with a high risk of premature death, stillbirth, or neonatal death, are often referred to as "lethal," as it is assumed that their potential treatment will be unsuccessful, which is the basis for the decision for the interruption of pregnancy due to medical reasons [1, 2]. Depending on the clinical criteria used in the definition of the disease, its incidence varies from 1 to 32 per 10,000 live births [3]. An increase in the prenatal diagnosis of CH has been observed, whereas the incidence of stillbirths remains stable. The interruption of pregnancy due to medical reasons reduces by almost a half the rate of hydrocephalus in live births. Currently, prenatal ultrasound is able to visualize ventriculomegaly, which can be caused by a number of reasons. Knowledge of the risk factors associated with CH may increase the chances of an early prenatal ultrasound diagnosis. Animal experiments have found that a wide range of environmental factors can cause hydrocephalus. They include alcohol consumption, X-rays, infections, eating disorders, and exposure to chemicals during pregnancy [4]. It has been established that one gene (L1 of Xq28 encoded for L1CAM) is connected with CH in humans. Although X-linked CH has a frequency of about 2–7% of all cases, L1CAM is found in about 15% of sporadic cases [5]. L1CAM mutations are closely related to stenosis of the cerebral aqueduct, the major pathology causing hydrocephalus in these cases. Sipek et al., in their study of CH for the period 1961–2000 in the Czech Republic, found that a mother's age of over 37 years was statistically significantly related to CH, unlike the study by Van Landingham et al. [4, 6].

the fetus, after authorization for macroscopic and microscopic examination. The autopsy includes observation, biometry of the fetus, and in situ examination of the body cavities. The examination of the brain was performed 6 months later, after conservation with 10% formalin. It began with biometrics, measurement of the biparietal and frontal-occipital diameters, and study of the relationship between ocular distance and eyelid length. After opening the cranial cavity, the meninx, brainstem, cerebellum, cerebral hemispheres, gyrification, and morphology were observed. The biometry of the brain—weight and bitemporal and fronto-occipital diameters of the encephalon, and weight and transverse diameter of the cerebellum—was also studied. The ventricular system was examined by horizontal or vertical hemispheric slices until the central part of the lateral ventricle was opened. The presence, shape, and thickness of corpus callosum were examined. With a linear meter, the ventricular width in the central part was measured. At a width of more than 10 mm, ventricular dilatation was diagnosed as hydrocephalus and at a diameter of over 15 mm—major hydrocephalus. In each study, material was taken for histological examination of the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, brainstem, choroid plexus, and cerebral meninx. SPSS version 19 was used for the interpretation of the data. A descriptive analysis

Correlations between Ultrasound and Pathology in Fetal Ventricular System Anomalies

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• **Age structure of the mothers:** The age range of mothers carrying fetuses with FHLO was 21–43 years. Under 26 years of age were 24 mothers (22%), 27–35 were 64 (58%) and 36–50 years of age were 21 mothers (19.3%). The average age of the mothers was

• **Number of previous pregnancies of the mothers:** Most of the mothers carrying FHLO had one previous pregnancy (38.1%), followed by mothers with two previous pregnancies (19.5%). The average number of previous pregnancies is 2.50 ± 1.808, with a range of 1 to 5 pregnancies. There were no data for previous pregnancies for only 2.7% of the

• **Number of previous births of the mothers:** In the studied group, most of the mothers had one previous birth (36.6%), followed by mothers without previous births (31.3%). The aver-

• **Blood group of the mothers:** Data were collected for the mothers' blood groups, but unfortunately there is no information for about 21% of the mothers carrying a fetus with FHLO of the studied group. It is noteworthy that most of the mothers were of blood group O(+)

• **Consanguinity:** In our study, 27.4% of the marriages were consanguineous, with those of

first degree being 15.4%, those of second degree 8.3%, and of third 3.7%.

age number of births is 1.24 ± 1.23, with a range of 0–5.

– 36 (32.0%), followed by А(+) – 23 (over 20.0%).

and χ<sup>2</sup>

**4. Results**

29.5 ± 0.72.

mothers.

