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Prognosis factors for survival in fetuses with prenatally diagnosed megacystis

Journal of Perinatology volume 42, pages 667–668 (2022)Cite this article

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Megacystis is defined by a bladder whose largest diameter is ≥7 mm at the first trimester screening test [1], and as a large bladder that does not empty after 45 min of examination during the second and third trimesters. Its prevalence varies from 0.06 to 0.31% [2]. This study aims to highlight the antenatal ultrasound (US) criteria associated with fetal megacystis and the prognosis factors for survival.

We carried out a retrospective observational study in two University Hospital Centers from January 2000 to December 2018. A total of 172 pregnancies with prenatal diagnosis of megacystis were included after local ethics committee approval. In all, 75 underwent medical termination of pregnancy. In utero fetal death (n = 17), late miscarriage (n = 1), and neonates who died within 30 days (n = 3) constituted the fetal/neonatal deaths group. The survivor group included 76 patients who survived longer than 30 days (Table 1). The statistical analysis used the Fisher exact test for the comparison of qualitative variables and the Kruskal–Wallis test for quantitative variables. A multivariate analysis with logistic regression was performed with incorporation of significant factors at the limit of p < 0.20 after univariate analysis. The significance threshold was set at 0.05. There were no significant differences between the three groups concerning the mean maternal age, the fetal sex, and the percentage of twin pregnancies. There was a majority of male fetuses in all groups. The US signs from the fetal/neonatal deaths group were compared with those from the survivors.

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of patients included and of pregnancies.
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References

  1. Fontanella F, Maggio L, Verheij JBGM, Duin LK, Adama Van Scheltema PN, Cohen-Overbeek TE, et al. Fetal megacystis: a lot more than LUTO. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2019;53:779–87.

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  2. Taghavi K, Sharpe C, Stringer MD. Fetal megacystis: a systematic review. J Pediatr Urol. 2017;13:7–15.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Centre Pluridisciplinaire de Diagnostic Prenatal from Saint-Etienne and Grenoble for their help in identifying patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Saint-Etienne, 42055, Saint-Etienne, France

    Lucile Grimal, Tiphaine Raia-Barjat & Marie-Noëlle Varlet

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Grenoble Alpes, 38700, La Tronche, France

    Marie-Caroline Faisant, Anne-Laure Coston, Didier Riethmuller & Pascale Hoffmann

  3. Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Grenoble Alpes, 38700, La Tronche, France

    Pierre-Yves Rabattu

  4. Department of Medical Genetics, University Hospital Saint-Etienne, 42055, Saint-Etienne, France

    Fabienne Prieur

  5. Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Saint-Etienne, 42055, Saint-Etienne, France

    François Varlet & Aurélien Scalabre

  6. INSERM UMR 1059 SAINBIOSE, Dysfonction Vasculaire et Hémostase, Université Jean-Monnet, CHU de Saint-Etienne, 42055, Saint-Etienne, France

    Aurélien Scalabre

Authors
  1. Lucile Grimal
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  2. Tiphaine Raia-Barjat
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  3. Marie-Caroline Faisant
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  4. Anne-Laure Coston
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  5. Didier Riethmuller
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  6. Pierre-Yves Rabattu
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  7. Marie-Noëlle Varlet
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  8. Fabienne Prieur
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  9. François Varlet
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  10. Pascale Hoffmann
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  11. Aurélien Scalabre
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Contributions

LG was responsible for designing the study, extracting and analyzing data, interpreting results, and writing the manuscript. TR-B and PH contributed to designing the study, extracting data, and provided feedback on the report. M-CF, A-LC, DR, P-YR, M-NV, and FP extracted data and provided feedback on the text. FV contributed to designing the study and provided feedback on the text. AS contributed to designing the study, statistical analysis, interpreting results, and writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aurélien Scalabre.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Grimal, L., Raia-Barjat, T., Faisant, MC. et al. Prognosis factors for survival in fetuses with prenatally diagnosed megacystis. J Perinatol 42, 667–668 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01201-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01201-8

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