KARACHI, June 1: Appropriate application of updated modalities in digital ultrasound technology can be extremely helpful in diagnosing certain abnormalities besides congenital anomalies in babies before birth. These views were expressed at a seminar arranged as part of continuing medical education programme here on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Dow University of Health Sciences Prof Masood Hameed said that as the diagnostic and treatment facilities were fast improving, there was need to ensure that all public and private sector hospitals were adequately equipped with the same in the larger interest of the patients.

“Screening, testing and scanning of diseases especially during pregnancies is very important to help diagnose any complication at its very onset,” he said.

He mentioned that a significant majority of women suffering from serious conditions as breast tumours, cancers or other relevant problems were reluctant to be examined physically or discuss it with their doctors.

Acknowledging that trained professionals are essentially required to operate the modern diagnostic gadgets, he said that Dow varsity had planned to introduce certificate and diploma courses in ultrasound technology besides setting a 1,500-bedded teaching hospital, medical college and medical research city.

Other speakers on the occasion including Director Institute of Ultrasound Imaging Dr Musarrat Hasan, GM Medison Korea Ji Won Park, Ultrasound Specialist from India Dr Kuldeep Singh and Sohail Firoze, in their respective presentations reiterated that three dimensional ultrasound was quickly moving out of research, development stages and was widely employed in a clinical setting. They said that scans required special probes and software to accumulate and render images where as with modern technologies rendering time had been reduced from minutes to fraction of a second.

According to them, available evidence strongly suggests that smaller defects as spine bifida, cleft lips/palate and polydacty could be lucidly demonstrated while more subtle features as low set ears, facial dysmorphia or clubbing of feet can be better assessed leading to more effective diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities.

They observed that an increasing volume of literature was accumulating on the usefulness of three dimensional scans and the diagnosis of congenital anomalies could receive revived attention.–-APP/PPI