![]() Using a combination of objective sonographic markers as well as follow-up ultrasound assessments can significantly reduce the risk of a false diagnosis. There is no ‘gold standard’ for a definitive diagnosis of micrognathia on post-natal evaluation. One should be careful in pronouncing a fetus having ‘micrognathia’, especially on subjective evaluation, as this term implies that the fetus is abnormal with presence of significant pathology. Postnatal complications including mild to severe upper airway obstruction leading to respiratory distress, feeding difficulties and mild to severe long-term developmental delay are common. The outcome of fetuses with this seemingly isolated finding is more guarded than one would intuitively believe, and the parents should be counseled accordingly. The identification of micrognathia should prompt karyotyping and sonographic investigation for other abnormalities. 3D sonographic views can add to the diagnosis and prenatal MRI is a useful adjunct to ultrasound in cases of limited acoustic window, maternal obesity, oligohydramnios and anterior spine position. Another useful sonographic sign, the mandibular gap in the retronasal triangle view, increases the accuracy of the diagnosis early in the first trimester. Recently objective sonographic methods have been utilized for diagnosing micrognathia such as the inferior facial angle, the jaw index, the frontal nasomental angle, the mandible width/maxilla width ratio and the mandibular length. Till recently, the prenatal diagnosis was subjective, based on the evaluation of the fetal profile and assessment of the relationship between the maxilla and the mandible. Fetal micrognathia involves abnormal or arrested development of the fetal mandible. ![]()
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