Background: There are several prenatal screening methods, but ultrasonography is increasingly used as a routine method for prenatal screening because of availability. Objectives: The study was conducted to investigate the value of ultrasonography in prenatal diagnosis of birth defects. Subjects and method: Between 01/07/2003 and 31/3/2006 there were 20,345 pregnant women receiving prenatal ultrasonography screening for congenital defect. Among these pregnancies, prenatal ultrasonography findings were compared to postnatal clinical observations. Results: Among the studied pregnancies, there were 657 cases with 772 birth defects recorded in ultrasonography. The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography for detecting defects of neural tube, head and neck, cardiopulmonary, abdomen, limb bone and urinary system were 97.07% and 99.98%, 94.21% and 100%, 100% and 100%, 94.87% and 99.98%, 91.01% and 99.99%, 100% and 100%, respectively. Defects not detected by ultrasonography were minor and had no serious impact on the children\u2019 physical and mental health. Conclusion: Overall, the ultrasonography had the sensitivity of 92.49% and the specificity of 99.96% in screening for birth defects.
Ultrasonography ; Birth defect.

Interrupted aortic arch with an aortopulmonary window is a rare congenital entity that is associated with high morbidity and mortality, especially in premature low-birth-weight infants, and the proper timing of surgical correction remains a matter of debate. We present the case of a premature infant weighing 1.6 kg who successfully underwent one stage surgical repair to treat interrupted aortic arch with an aortopulmonary window. The therapeutic management of this patient is described below, and a review of the literature is presented.
Aorta, Thoracic* ; Aortopulmonary Septal Defect ; Humans ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn* ; Infant, Premature ; Mortality