Vasa previa: Another ultrasound sign and caution at cesarean section

Figures & data

Figure 1. Velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord, its color Doppler image (a), schematic presentation of aberrant vessels of Bręborowicz et al.’s Figure 1C [1] (b) and a mangrove tree (c). (a) Color Doppler image of velamentous cord insertion, which was obtained from a 30-week ultrasound scan of a pregnant woman: who was later confirmed to have velamentous cord insertion and gave abdominal birth to an infant. The arrow indicates aberrant vessels running over the fetal membranes to the placental surface. (b) The figure of the cord and placenta of Bręborowicz et al.’s case (their Figure 1C [1]) mimics the color Doppler image of Figure 1(a). (c) A mangrove tree: the trunk represents the cord. The trunk branches into several roots, reaching the ground, which indicates the cord, aberrant vessels, and placental surface. The ultrasound image shown in Figure 1(a) resembles a mangrove tree, and thus we named this sign a “mangrove sign” [2].

Bręborowicz GH, Markwitz W, Szpera-Goździewicz A, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of vasa previa. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2014 . [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.3109/14767058.2014.969230

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Kuwata T, Suzuki H, Matsubara S. The ‘mangrove sign' for velamentous umbilical cord insertion. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2012;40:241–2

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