Obstetrics | Red flags in the womb
Tracks
Rm 6 | Virtual
Obstetrics
| Sunday, May 31, 2026 |
| 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM |
| Rm 6 | First Floor |
Speaker
Assoc Prof Rob Cincotta
Director
QUFW
Twin pregnancies in focus: Chorionicity, determination and the pathway to TTTS surveillance
9:00 AM - 9:20 AMBiography
Assoc Prof Rob Cincotta |
QUFW
Rob Cincotta is a Maternal–Fetal Medicine specialist who has spent three decades caring for families and building fetal medicine services throughout Queensland. He helped establish Australia’s first TTTS laser surgery program and later founded QUFW to bring high-quality obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound closer to the communities who need it. Now undertaking a PhD in AI-driven risk prediction for twin pregnancies, Rob combines clinical experience with a lifelong curiosity for ideas and technology that improve care.
Mrs Erika Cavanagh
Senior Sonographer
Mater Centre For Maternal Fetal Medicine
Placenta accreta syndrome
9:20 AM - 9:40 AMBiography
Mrs Erika Cavanagh FASA |
Mater Centre For Maternal Fetal Medicine
Erika is a Sonographer of over 20 years experience, who specialises in Maternal Fetal Medicine ultrasound. She is currently in the final stage of completing her PhD, investigating Shear Wave Elastography of the Placenta in Fetal Growth Restriction and Pre-eclampsia. In her spare time she likes to smother her golden retriever with love and go shopping at Mecca.
Ms Emma Wilsher
Sonograper
QUFW
Too much, too little: Navigating amniotic fluid disorders **NEW VOICE**
9:40 AM - 10:00 AMBiography
Ms Emma Wilsher |
QUFW
Emma Wilsher is a senior sonographer with QUFW based on the Gold Coast. With over 20 years’ experience in ultrasound, at the beginning of 2025 she stepped away from general ultrasound to pursue her passion for obstetric and gynaecological imaging, and has since fallen back in love with her career and learned a lot in the process.
Ms Ziwei Chen
Sonographer
Queensland Health
Abnormal posterior brain spaces in the first trimester **NEW VOICE**
10:00 AM - 10:20 AMPresentation Synopsis / Abstract
Imaging the brainstem (BS) and measuring the brainstem-to-occipital bone diameter (BSOB) are important components of the first-trimester structural scan. Here are three cases in which subtle deviations in posterior brain spaces during the combined first-trimester scan (cFTS) contributed to later diagnoses of neural tube defects or Dandy–Walker malformation.
Case 1:
A 25-year-old G1P0 (BMI 30) underwent routine cFTS. All views were normal except for non-visualisation of the cisterna magna in the midsagittal plane. Axial images showed a posteriorly displaced aqueduct of Sylvius with the characteristic “crash” sign. The spine appeared normal. At 16-week early morphology, a cystic sacral lesion and ventriculomegaly were identified, leading to a diagnosis of lumbosacral spina bifida.
Case 2:
A 34-year-old G2P1 was referred for tertiary imaging after routine cFTS demonstrated an elevated BS/BSOB ratio and absent intracranial translucency. At 13+4 weeks, the fetus remained prone, with a thickened brainstem and non-visualised cisterna magna. The “crash” sign was again seen, while the spine appeared normal. At 16 weeks, ventriculomegaly and an occipital encephalocele were detected.
Case 3:
A 28-year-old G4P0 had a normal cFTS at 13+5 weeks. At 20 weeks, the cerebellar vermis appeared hypoplastic. Amniocentesis and fetal MRI revealed no genetic abnormalities but confirmed Dandy–Walker malformation, with additional grey-matter subependymal nodular heterotopia and asymmetric ventriculomegaly. Retrospective review showed a decreased BS:BSOB ratio.
These cases highlight the importance of scrutinizing posterior brain spaces in the first trimester, even when definitive diagnosis may only be possible later in gestation.
Case 1:
A 25-year-old G1P0 (BMI 30) underwent routine cFTS. All views were normal except for non-visualisation of the cisterna magna in the midsagittal plane. Axial images showed a posteriorly displaced aqueduct of Sylvius with the characteristic “crash” sign. The spine appeared normal. At 16-week early morphology, a cystic sacral lesion and ventriculomegaly were identified, leading to a diagnosis of lumbosacral spina bifida.
Case 2:
A 34-year-old G2P1 was referred for tertiary imaging after routine cFTS demonstrated an elevated BS/BSOB ratio and absent intracranial translucency. At 13+4 weeks, the fetus remained prone, with a thickened brainstem and non-visualised cisterna magna. The “crash” sign was again seen, while the spine appeared normal. At 16 weeks, ventriculomegaly and an occipital encephalocele were detected.
Case 3:
A 28-year-old G4P0 had a normal cFTS at 13+5 weeks. At 20 weeks, the cerebellar vermis appeared hypoplastic. Amniocentesis and fetal MRI revealed no genetic abnormalities but confirmed Dandy–Walker malformation, with additional grey-matter subependymal nodular heterotopia and asymmetric ventriculomegaly. Retrospective review showed a decreased BS:BSOB ratio.
These cases highlight the importance of scrutinizing posterior brain spaces in the first trimester, even when definitive diagnosis may only be possible later in gestation.
Biography
Ms Ziwei Chen |
Queensland Health
Ziwei has been a qualified sonographer for 11 years. She has an interest in obstetric ultrasound and has worked in GCUH's maternal fetal medicine unit for 6 years.
