Chorionic bump on first-trimester sonography: not necessarily a poor prognostic indicator for pregnancy

New insight on etiology: A chorionic bump with partial mole pregnancy case report from Syria

This case report presents the association of a chorionic bump with a partial mole pregnancy in a 37-year-old G3P2 woman. The differential diagnosis of a partial mole was considered after transvaginal ultrasonography revealed a chorionic bump. Subsequent pathological analysis confirmed the diagnosis. While the etiology of the chorionic bump remains dubious, we hypothesize an alternative explanation for chorionic bump formation based on the presence of three unique pathological features: necrosis, edema, and hemorrhage.

Assessing the predictive value of first trimester ultrasound and biochemical markers in miscarriage: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Vaginal bleeding in the first trimester of pregnancy generates anxiety and uncertainty for expecting parents. The ability to determine pregnancy outcome through a first trimester ultrasound scan remains a challenge in obstetrics. Several first trimester ultrasound markers used individually or in combination, as well as ultrasound markers used in combination with biochemical markers, have been studied to determine their predictive value in pregnancy outcome. This scoping review was performed to determine which markers have already been investigated for this purpose.

METHODS

An extensive and systematic database search was performed using four different categories of keywords which were combined using Boolean terms. A total of 14 variables were included on the final data charting forms. Data was synthesised collectively for each variable and then separately for the studies analysing only one marker. For the studies which analysed multiple markers, data was synthesised based on the number of markers per study.

RESULTS

The search yielded 3608 studies, of which 128 were ultimately used for this review. Data extraction, based on predetermined eligibility criteria, was performed by two authors independently. Seventy-seven (62.6%) studies investigated the predictive value of a single ultrasound marker. The remaining 46 (37.4%) studies explored multiple markers, of which at least one was an ultrasound marker.

CONCLUSION

This review identified several discrepancies among different studies. This highlights the need for better consensus among researchers to allow for the design of a predictive model which enables extrapolation of findings to all pregnant women.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Through the study of ultrasound and biochemical markers in the first trimester of pregnancy, clinicians may provide a more accurate prediction of pregnancy outcome following threatened miscarriage.

A single-center retrospective study of the clinical significance of chorionic bump at early stage of gestation

PROBLEM

The chorionic bump is a distinct rare sonographic abnormality. Until now, there is contradictory evidence about if it associates with poor pregnancy outcomes. We performed this retrospective study to provide additional clinical data to investigate the clinical significance of chorionic bump at early stage of pregnancy.

METHOD OF STUDY

A single-center retrospective study was performed using the sonographic and clinical data of the pregnant women who had antenatal checkup and childbirth at Shanghai First Maternal and Child Health Care Center from December 2018 to December 2019. Sonographic examination was performed by experts at 5-10 weeks' gestation. Maternal age and gestational age matched controls from the same period were selected for analysis.

RESULTS

We observed 83 chorionic bump cases showing a prevalence of 0.33%. We found previous intrauterine operations and/or adverse maternal history posed a risk of having chorionic bump. In our cohort, chorionic bump associates with poor pregnancy outcomes. Poor pregnancy outcomes were more frequently found in the patients whose lesions were detected early (<56 days of pregnancy), or in the patients with the lesion relative sizes more than 40% of the sizes of the gestational sac, or in the patients with multiple lesions.

CONCLUSION

Intrauterine operations and/or adverse maternal history associate with an increased incidence of chorionic bump, which associates with poor pregnancy outcomes. Early detection, bigger relative size, and multiple lesions are factors likely leading to poor pregnancy outcomes.

Chorionic bump at 11 to 13 weeks' gestation: Prevalence and clinical significance

OBJECTIVE

To gather additional data on pregnancy outcome when a chorionic bump is detected at the time of the 11- to 13-week scan.

METHODS

The presence of a chorionic bump was prospectively recorded in a database of women presenting for their first-trimester sonographic screening. Clinically relevant information was obtained by reviewing ultrasound reports and medical records or contacting the referring obstetrician or the parents themselves.

RESULTS

During a 4.5-year study period from June 2014 to December 2018, a chorionic bump was identified in 23 out of 3375 pregnancies, for a prevalence of 1/147 or 0.7%. All women were asymptomatic at the time of evaluation. The chorionic bump was single in 21 (91%) cases, located in the central part of the placenta in 17 (74%) cases, and the median largest diameter was 20 mm (range, 10-43). Although the placenta was low-lying in 14 (61%) cases, all but one patient had a normally located placenta at the midtrimester anatomy scan. With the exception of one pregnancy complicated with trisomy 21, the outcome was universally good.

CONCLUSION

Our experience suggests that a chorionic bump detected during the 11- to 13-week scan is usually a transient, is incidental finding, and probably has no clinical significance.

Chorionic bump in a pregnant patient with a history of infertility

Chorionic bump is a rare condition in the first trimester of pregnancy. It appears as a bulge from the choriodecidual surface into the gestational sac. So far, there have been no ultrasound or clinical markers that can predict a difference in outcomeWe report a case of a pregnant woman with history of infertility, diagnosed in the first trimester with a chorionic bump. It disappeared spontaneously at 23 weeks of gestation. The pregnancy went well and she delivered a healthy baby.The aetiology and clinical significance of the chorionic bump remains unclear.

Chorionic Bump in First-trimester Sonography

Objectives

The present research was motivated by providing new insight into early pregnancies with a chorionic bump diagnosis in first-trimester sonography and its impact on live birth rate.

Methods

To determine the rate of CB, first trimester sonograms of pregnant women referring to Akbarabadi Hospital, which is a treatment and training center affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences as well as those referring to a private center were analyzed. The total number of transvaginal sonographies performed was 1900 cases from whom 8 cases of CB were detected. The chorionic bump size and number and history of infertility or coagulation disorders were considered as our independent variables and multiple gestation with pregnancy outcome as dependent ones.

Results

Overall, the prevalence rate of CB was 0.4% (4 per 1000), with 8 patients diagnosed with CB from 1900 the first trimester pregnant women. Of 8 pregnant women, 5 showed live birth (62.5%) and 3 experienced fetal demise (37.5%). The chorionic bumps ranged in size from 0.1 cc to 1.8 cc (average, 0.73 cc). No significant relationship was found between history of smoking, coagulopathy, infertility, multiple gestation and the size of CB.

Conclusions

The main finding was that the frequency of live birth in our sample was 62.5% (5 from 8). The clinical inference is that a chorionic bump on first-trimester sonography does not definitely guarantee a secure prediction. The correlation between bump size and pregnancy outcome is not clear, which warrants further research.

First-trimester chorionic bump--Association with fetal aneuploidy in a high-risk population

PURPOSE

To determine the relationship between the first-trimester chorionic bump and fetal aneuploidy.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included all singleton pregnancies with chromosomal analysis and sonographic examination performed between 5 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks from January 1, 2010 through August 15, 2015. Interobserver and intraobserver agreement for identifying a chorionic bump was evaluated by the Kappa statistic. Pregnancies with and without a chorionic bump were compared regarding patient characteristics and fetal karyotypes.

RESULTS

Six hundred ninety subjects were included, 16 (2.3%) having a bump. The kappa coefficients for interobserver agreement were 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-1.00) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.82-1.00); those for intraobserver agreement were 0.81 (95% CI: 0.61-1.00) and perfect agreement. One hundred seventeen fetuses (16.9%) were aneuploid, of which five (4.3%) had a bump. The odds of aneuploidy in the presence of a chorionic bump were higher than those in the absence of a chorionic bump, although this difference was not statistically significant (odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% CI: 0.8-6.7). In subgroup analyses, odds of aneuploidy were four times higher in the bump group than in the no bump group among those with a sonographically isolated bump (OR 4.5, 95% CI: 1.5-13.5) and 15 times higher among those with an isolated bump and increased first-trimester aneuploidy risk (OR 15.0, 95% CI 2.4-93.3).

CONCLUSIONS

Agreement in identifying chorionic bumps is near-perfect. A sonographically nonisolated chorionic bump is not associated with significant additional aneuploidy risk, whereas a sonographically isolated chorionic bump confers a significantly increased likelihood of aneuploidy in high-risk fetuses. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 45:3-7, 2017.

Normal and Abnormal US Findings in Early First-Trimester Pregnancy: Review of the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound 2012 Consensus Panel Recommendations

Since being introduced more than 30 years ago, endovaginal ultrasonography (US) and quantitative testing of serum levels of the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin have become the standard means of establishing the presence of normal intrauterine pregnancy (IUP), failed IUP, and ectopic pregnancy. Appropriate use of these powerful tools requires clear, standardized interpretations based on conservative criteria to protect both the pregnancy and the mother. Since diagnoses are assigned earlier and available medical treatments for ectopic pregnancy and failed IUP are expanding, emphasis must carefully shift toward watchful waiting when the mother is clinically stable and a definitive location for the pregnancy cannot be established with US. To this end and to prevent inadvertent harm to early normal pregnancies, the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound convened a consensus panel of radiologists, obstetricians, and emergency medicine physicians in 2012 with the goal of reviewing current literature and clinical practices and formulating modern criteria and terminology for the various first-trimester outcomes.

The chorionic bump: Etiologic insights from two pathologic pregnancies

The clinical significance and etiology of the chorionic bump remain unclear. We describe two pregnancies characterized by chorionic bumps, which subsequently were diagnosed with a complete mole and trisomy 18, respectively. We hypothesize that placental pathology, including edema and hydropic villi, may contribute to or cause the sonographic finding of some chorionic bumps. An association between chorionic bumps and aneuploidy awaits future study. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 44:452-454, 2016.

Chorionic bump in pregnant patients and associated live birth rate: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

A chorionic bump on first-trimester sonography has been considered a risk factor for nonviability in pregnant patients with this rare finding, although the strength of this association has recently been questioned. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the association between a chorionic bump and nonviability.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was performed. We included all studies except case reports. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

After screening 5 studies, 2 studies with a total of 67 patients met inclusion criteria. These were combined with a study (n = 52) from our institution. Overall, the live birth rate was 62% (74 of 119). Fifty-one chorionic bump pregnancies were otherwise normal (ie, pregnancies in which a gestational sac, a yolk sac, and an embryo with a heartbeat was seen at some point), and in this subset, the live birth rate was 83% (42 of 51). There was no significant relationship found between vaginal bleeding and live birth (P = .857); there was no significant difference in bump volume between live birth and no live birth (P = .198); and for the subset analysis of pooled odds ratios for the relationship between live birth and history of infertility, there was no significant relationship found (P = .186).

CONCLUSIONS

A chorionic bump remains a risk factor for nonviability in pregnancy; however, if the pregnancy is otherwise normal, then most result in live birth.