Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Radswiki T, Campos A, Elfeky M, et al. Fetal nuchal oedema. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 25 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-14681
Fetal nuchal oedema is a term describing a swollen fetal neck region. It can be thought of as a less severe form of a cystic hygroma.
It can arise from diverse causes including:
Ultrasound
Nuchal oedema is considered significant if it covers the back and sides of the neck with more than 3 mm thickness up to the 14th week of gestation, and more than 4-6 mm later. Septations are absent (cf. cystic hygroma) 5.
It may either be seen in the 1st trimester as increased nuchal translucency or in the 2nd trimester as increased nuchal thickness.
History and etymology
The Terminologia Anatomica refers to the neck as a whole as the "collum". In official Latin anatomical nomenclature, "cervix" refers to the front of the neck and "nucha" to the back (nape) of the neck 6.
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1. Michael Entezami. Ultrasound Diagnosis of Fetal Anomalies. (2004) ISBN: 9781588902122 - Google Books
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2. Ohno M, Kanenishi K, Kuno A et al. Three-Dimensional Sonographic Features of Nuchal Edema. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2002;53(2):125-8. doi:10.1159/000053008 - Pubmed
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3. Brun JL, Saura R, Horovitz J et-al. First trimester diagnosis of fetal nuchal edema. Report of 29 cases. Fetal. Diagn. Ther. 9 (4): 246-51. - Pubmed citation
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4. Suchet IB. Ultrasonography of the fetal neck in the first and second trimesters. Part 2. Anomalies of the posterior nuchal region. Can Assoc Radiol J. 1995;46 (5): 344-52. - Pubmed citation
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5. Diana W. Bianchi, Timothy M. Crombleholme, Mary E. D'Alton. Fetology. (2000) ISBN: 9780838525708 - Google Books
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6. FIPAT. Terminologia Anatomica. 2nd Ed. FIPAT.library.dal.ca. Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology, 2019. https://fipat.library.dal.ca/TA2/
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