{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T12:18:27Z","timestamp":1767874707912,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767830400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of prenatal ultrasound (US) in fetal limb abnormalities. As a secondary target, we wanted to correlate various predictors for the diagnosis accuracy. Methods: We prospectively enrolled cases with routine prenatal US performed in five participating centers. Subsequently, we selected and processed all cases with limb abnormalities: suspected, diagnosed, and missed on the prenatal diagnosis scans. We collected data on the type of anomaly, the US equipment and probes used, the operator\u2019s expertise, the gestational age at the diagnosis, the length of the examination, and the use of US reporting form. SPSS 22.0 software was applied to perform the analyses using non-parametric statistical methods. Associations between categorical variables were evaluated using Fisher\u2019s exact test and Chi-square tests. For correlations between the gestational age and the anomaly severity, we used Spearman\u2019s rank-order correlation. Predictive performance of operator- and scan-related variables for diagnostic accuracy was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, with area under the curve (AUC) estimates, standard errors (SE), confidence intervals (95% CI), and p-values reported. Results: Our data showed that most US examinations were performed as part of routine screening (79.7%), and the most frequent anomaly diagnosed was clubfoot. Operators\u2019 expertise demonstrated the highest predictive performance, while technical parameters\u2014scan duration (AUC = 0.20, p = 0.1188) and US equipment (AUC = 0.30, p = 0.3478)\u2014did not significantly predict diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions: The overall diagnostic accuracy of prenatal US was 85.5%. Our findings indicate that diagnostic performance is driven primarily by operator expertise and training, rather than by gestational age at scan and technical parameters.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15020486","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T09:01:29Z","timestamp":1767862889000},"page":"486","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From Diagnosis to Decision\u2014Fetal Limb Abnormalities"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Andreea Florentina","family":"Stancioi-Cismaru","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Razvan Grigoras","family":"Capitanescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9173-2976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihaela-Simona","family":"Naidin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cristian","family":"Constantin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 200642 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Imaging, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200638 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-9418-2602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marina","family":"Dinu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Florin","family":"Burada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Human Genomics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200638 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Regional Centre of Medical Genetics Dolj, Emergency Clinical County Hospital Craiova, 200642 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Oana Sorina","family":"Tica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7586-2245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihaela","family":"Gheonea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bianca Catalina","family":"Andreiana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200638 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Pathological Anatomy Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Razvan Cosmin","family":"Pana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"2nd Department, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1079-3908","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Tudorache","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8th Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency University County Hospital, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yehudit, Z., Rachel, M.C., Ari, W., Ori, S., Eyal, M., and Yitzhak, S.H. 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