Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of neuroblastoma

With the progress of foetal ultrasonography, diagnosis of foetal tumors can be made before birth. We report five cases of prenatally detected neuroblastoma of the adrenal glands. Diagnosis was made during the third trimester in all cases. At birth no clinical sign related to the tumor was present, and urinary catecholamines were within normal ranges. On ultrasound scans the tumor was cystic in 1 case, solid in 2 cases and of mixed echogenicity in 2 cases. All children were operated on without pre or postoperative chemotherapy. In each setting the tumor was a stage I neuroblastoma according to the Evans classification. All children are alive and disease-free with a follow-up of 32 months at 14 years.