Are There Ties Between Prenatal Ultrasound and Autism?

Acontroversial study recently published inJAMA Pediatrics has posed possible but largely unfounded links between autism and ultrasound technique and frequency. According to researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, there is a possible correlation between depth of ultrasound penetration during the first and second trimesters and autism. The researchers evaluated sonograms of 420 children, 107 with autism, 104 with developmental delay, and 209 with typical development. They looked at the frequency of ultrasound scans and penetration depth amongst the three groups. They found that mothers of children with autism underwent shorter ultrasound procedures during the first and second trimesters than mothers with typically developing children. The researchers also determined that the autism group experienced a higher average of ultrasonographic penetration in comparison to both the developmentally delay and typical development groups. Specifically, 12.5 centimeters for the autism group vs 11.6 centimeters for the developmental delay and the typical development groups during the first trimester. According to the study ’s lead author, N. Paul Rosman, MD, a pediatrics professor at BU, these findings don’t indicate that ultrasounds provoke autism. " We think this study was done well, but there are deficiencies, and that ' s why we call for additional studies, "he said. In anarticle for CNN, a handful of physicians spoke out against the study ’s conclusions. Thomas Fraz...

Source: radRounds - February 23, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs