Presentation
Screening fetal MRI to exclude occult anomalies. Incidental finding.
Patient Data
There is a solitary, viable, intrauterine gestation in the cephalic presentation.
A 3-vessel umbilical cord is loosely wrapped circumferentially around the fetal neck (left to right and anterior to posterior).
Fetal MRI is otherwise normal.
Case Discussion
Identification of a 3-vessel umbilical cord wrapped circumferentially (3600) around the fetal neck in a fetus at 25 weeks and 0 days gestation at the time of fetal MRI.
Nuchal cords may be wrapped once or multiple times around the neck and are easily identified on antenatal ultrasound, especially on doppler assessment.
According to the Giacomello classification system, this would be classified as a type A nuchal cord.
Once a nuchal cord is identified, close follow-up and assessment are needed on all future obstetric visits to prevent complications.