Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 4, Issue 3 119-125, Copyright © 1985 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Separated chorioamnion and elevated chorion: sonographic features and clinical significance
A. J. Kaufman, A. C. Fleischer, G. A. Thieme, D. M. Shah and A. E. James Jr
The clinical presentation and outcome of pregnancy was analyzed in thirteen
patients in whom a free-floating intrauterine membrane was found on
sonography. The cases were divided into two groups: those with elevated
chorion and those with chorioamniotic separation. Five of seven patients
with chorioamniotic separation progressed normally to term and delivered
normal infants. In the two pregnancies with chorioamniotic separation that
did not progress to term, one was associated with a placental chorioangioma
and the other had a dead fetus that had a cystic hygroma indicative of
Turner's syndrome. Of the six patients with elevated chorion, all presented
with an episode of vaginal bleeding in the early second trimester. Five of
six patients with elevated chorion progressed to term with the delivery of
normal infants. One patient with extensive elevation of the chorion
aborted. Three patients with elevated chorion had a subchorionic clot,
whereas this was not present in patients with separated chorioamnion.
Follow-up sonographic examination of patients with separated chorioamnion
and elevated chorion revealed that most (11 of 13), but not all pregnancies
in which an intrauterine membrane was found progressed to term without
complications.
