Acral necrosis and upper brachial plexus palsy after prenatal fetal thrombosis

Intrauterine fetal thrombosis is an extremely rare event with a devastating outcome. The etiology of the condition often remains unclear. A 29-year-old 2 gravida 1 para presented with mild preeclampsia at 34 weeks of gestation with pathological cardiotocography (CTG), but normal resistance indices in the umbilical and the uterine arteries. The fetal middle cerebral artery (MCA) displayed a significantly reduced pulsatility index (PI). An immediate cesarean section was performed and a male neonate with a birth weight of 2300 g was delivered. Immediately after birth, a progressive necrosis of the neonate’s 4 right final finger link and a palsy of the right brachial plexus were observed. MRI and ultrasound imaging did not display mechanical injuries. The Doppler ultrasound showed a thrombus in the right common carotid and subclavian artery with poststenotic decreased blood flow of the right middle cerebral artery. Further analysis did not reveal inherited or acquired thrombophilias of the neonate. The puzzling prenatal finding of a markedly decreased PI in the MCA as well as the initially suspected postnatal diagnosis of traumatic plexus injury were clarified by the diagnosis of the thrombosis.