ABSTRACT
Purpose of the review
The technological improvements have greatly progressed on three-dimensional ultrasonography. This review summarizes these technical changes and the latest advances of their use in prenatal diagnosis.
Material and methods
Review of the literature.
Results
The new technical aspects of the volumetry, improvement of different render modes, the postprocessing modalities, and innovations on volume calculations are extensively described, as well as detailed, organ based diagnosis of different malformations in the second and third trimester are summarized.
Conclusion
Though the traditional 2D ultrasound with high resolution provides a great diagnostic tool in detection of fetal malformations, there is no doubt that the 3D/4D technique offers a new power in prenatal diagnosis. Three-dimensional ultrasound can assist in the diagnosis of different, rare malformations because it offers a potential benefit of understanding spatial relationships of normal and abnormal fetal anatomy.