Prenatal Diagnosis of Foetal Malformations and Diseases: Teaching atlas of amniofoetography

Tempestuous progress of sonographic facilities for prenatal detection of foetal malformations and diseases has necessarily resulted in substantial decline in the use of amniofoetography. Yet, substantial decline does not mean abandonment at all or fall into oblivion. Amniofoetography is used at present and will certainly continue to be used with
benefit in the foreseeable future to cope with dubious findings of ultrasound diagnosis and, perhaps, also to support "secured" diagnoses which may lead to decisions with serious implications for mother and child. It has been particularly this aspect of rare indications that has encouraged the authors to respond to the demand for a competent illustrated account of important findings so far obtained from that method. This is actually a compendium of equal interest for the experienced and unexperienced, carrying substantial information on efficacy, limits, and indications of amniofoetography together with a strategic programme for its use within the complex network of diagnostic tools.This "Atlas of Amniofoetography" by Abet, Prenzlau, and Richter, to which contributions were made by several specialists of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and the Institute of Radiological Diagnosis at Charité, is a product of genuine interdisciplinary teamwork. Born out of practice, it has been designed for use in practice. Modern obstetrics is no longer thinkable without amniofoetography, since the latter has become
interconnected with ultrasound diagnosis as well as with other modern complementary methods, such as chorionic biopsy, foetoscopy, and also genetic investigations. Viewed from the position of the obstetrician, this Atlas is likely to open up access to an area that is not free from doubt and that is somewhat burdened with moral-ethic and legal
problems. The authors, therefore, have taken a courageous step.