EFFICACY AND SENSITIVITY OF PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL ULTRASOUND SCREENING OF CONGENITAL DEVELOPMENTAL ANOMALIES OF KIDNEYS IN SLOVAKIA

The aim: To compare the effectiveness and sensitivity of prenatal and postnatal diagnostics in the diagnosis of congenital malformations of the urinary system in the Slovak Republic. Materials and methods: Data of postnatal sonographic screening of congenital developmental malformations of the urinary system in Slovak Republic including 2017 were identified and updated using a questionnaire survey, 38,496 newborns were involved. Statistical data on the proportion of prenatal diagnosis for the years 1995, 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2013-2016 were provided from the National Register of Congenital Defects. The chi2-test and t-test were applied to assess the sensitivity differences. Results: The study showed a low sensitivity of prenatal diagnosis with its maximum in 2016, reaching 32.3% and a minimum in 2005-2008 (8.0 – 8.4%). The sensitivity of postnatal diagnostics for selected years has always been a stable indicator and reaches 99.6%. Conclusions: Available statistical data confirm that prenatal diagnostics of congenital developmental malformations of the urinary system in the Slovak Republic is not perfect. Our work underlines the importance, or we should rather say inevitability of postnatal ultrasound screening for congenital developmental anomalies in the kidneys.

Relevance of ultrasound neonatal screening of the urinary system

The results of diagnostics of obstructive uropathies and some other congenital changes in the kidneys, which were obtained using neonatal sonographic screening for 2018 in the neonatal unit of the Third Children’s Clinic of the Slovak Medical University, are presented. The results of thisstudy were compared with statistical data from the National Centerfor Medical Information of Slovakia for 2017–2018. The disadvantages of prenatal diagnosis in different regions of the Slovak Republic, as well as some administrative disadvantages of neonatal ultrasound screening at the present time, are shown. The importance of early diagnosis of obstructive uropathy is also shown.