What happens if a prenatal ultrasound finds microcephaly, with zika going around?

Difficult question: If a pregnant woman has traveled in much of the Caribbean and South America she may have acquired a Zeka infection. It remains rare in the US but may be here later as a mosquito born disease.State health departments and the CDC are the only labs currently set up to assess tests, and not all have this available. There is not much you can do after a fetus shows problems.There is no treatment

Evaluation: The association between microcephaly and Zika infection in pregnancy has still not definitively been established. There can be several potential causes of microcephaly, including various infections and exposure to certain toxins (drugs, alcohol, etc). If there is suspicion of microcephaly during a pregnancy, the physician would initiate an appropriate evaluation.

Test amniotic fluid: If living in a Zika area, or having visited one, and a prenatal ultrasound shows a small head or calcium spots in the brain, the doctors may offer to do amniocentesis to look for Zika virus in the baby.

Needs referral: Zika is unlikely unless potential exposure of pregnant mom or sexual partner is documented. Any possible fetal anomaly seen in primary care merits a referral to a fetal ultrasonography expert. I have evaluated many women referred for fetal microcephaly who were greatly relieved after I measured the head circumference of the parents, finding one to be affected with benign familial microcephaly

Microcephaly: There are many possible causes of microcephaly and there are degrees of severity of microcephaly. If the woman lived in Palo Alto and had not traveled to endemic areas - I would not make the assumption that this was the cause. Further evaluation may provide more information of cause.