Prenatal ultrasound guided percutaneous shunts for obstructive uropathy and thoracic disease.

The authors reviewed the status of closed ultrasound-guided fetal therapy using a pigtail shunt to create vesicoamniotic or thoracoamniotic decompression of the fluid-filled space. This review includes published and textbook reports of in utero therapy for bladder obstruction, pleural effusion, and macrocystic adenomatoid malformation from 1985 through 2002. For fetuses affected by lower urinary tract obstruction, the key component is identifying those fetuses that have retained renal function and are most likely to benefit from in utero shunting. This good prognosis group has been shown to have improved survival rate and a lower incidence of renal failure. Complications of fetal loss are estimated at 5% owing to the shunt procedure, and the risk of shunt displacement varies from 30% to 50%. Hydrops secondary to primary PE has been shown to be associated with low fetal and neonatal survival at 21% to 23%. Treatment by thoracoamniotic shunting increases survival rate to 75%. The fetus with a macrocystic CCAM and secondary hydrops should be considered a candidate for thoracoamniotic shunt to decrease CCAM volume, reverse hydrops, and improve survival rate. Thoracoamniotic shunt and thoracocentesis pregnancy loss risks for pleural effusion (PE) and macrocystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung (CCAM) are 5% and 0.5% to 1.0%, respectively.