Doppler sonographic confirmation of thalamic and basal ganglia vasculopathy in three infants with trisomy 13

A prospective review of 1746 head sonographic examinations performed from July 1993 to December 1995 revealed three scans that demonstrated a linear, branching echogenic pattern within the thalamus or basal ganglia. All three of these patients had trisomy 13. This finding has been described previously and is presumed to be of vascular causation. Doppler evaluation of the thalamus and basal ganglia in our three cases confirmed the vascular nature of the echogenic, branching pattern.