Fetal heart examination at the time of 13 weeks scan: a 5 years’ prospective study
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Alaa Ebrashy
, Mona Aboulghar
Abstract
Objective
To evaluate our ability in classifying the fetal heart as normal or abnormal during the 1st trimester scan through fetal cardiac examination and determining the best time for this examination.
Methods
This was a prospective study performed on 3240 pregnant women to examine the fetal heart. Four chambers view and ventricular outflow tracts were mainly examined during the scan. We used grayscale and color mapping in the diagnosis. Color Doppler was used if additional information was needed, and all patients were rescanned during the 2nd trimester to confirm or negate our diagnosis.
Results
The cardiac findings were normal at both scans in 3108 pregnancies. The same cardiac abnormality was detected at both scans in 79 cases. In 36 cases there was false-positive diagnosis at the early scan; in 20 of these cases, there were mildly abnormal functional findings early in pregnancy with no abnormality found later. In 17 fetuses, there was discordance between the early and later diagnosis due to missed or incorrect diagnoses. The best time to do fetal heart examination during 1st trimester is between 13 and 13 + 6 weeks.
Conclusion
A high degree of accuracy in the identification of congenital heart disease (CHD) can be achieved by a 1st trimester fetal echocardiography.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- The role of complement in preterm birth and prematurity
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Variation in C-reactive protein at 1 month post-partum by etiology of preterm birth: selective identification of those at risk for both poor pregnancy outcome and future health complications
- Procedure related risk of premature delivery and fetal growth reduction following amniocentesis, transcervical and transabdominal chorionic villus sampling: a retrospective study
- Cervical length at 31–34 weeks of gestation: transvaginal vs. transperineal ultrasonographic approach
- The origin of amniotic fluid monocytes/macrophages in women with intra-amniotic inflammation or infection
- Placental elasticity assessment by point shear wave elastography in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction
- A 17-years analysis of terminations of pregnancy ≥14 weeks of gestation in a German level 1 perinatal center
- Simulation of an impacted fetal head extraction during cesarean section: description of the creation and evaluation of a new training program
- Academic tweeting in #ObGyn. Where do we stand?
- Original Articles – Fetus
- Fetal heart examination at the time of 13 weeks scan: a 5 years’ prospective study
- Comparison of fetal cardiac functions between small-for-gestational age fetuses and late-onset growth-restricted fetuses
- Original Article – Newborn
- Protocols for early discharging of premature infants: an empirical assessment on safety and savings
- Letter to the Editor
- Maternal blood pressure levels prepartum correlate with neonatal birth weight in preeclampsia
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- The role of complement in preterm birth and prematurity
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Variation in C-reactive protein at 1 month post-partum by etiology of preterm birth: selective identification of those at risk for both poor pregnancy outcome and future health complications
- Procedure related risk of premature delivery and fetal growth reduction following amniocentesis, transcervical and transabdominal chorionic villus sampling: a retrospective study
- Cervical length at 31–34 weeks of gestation: transvaginal vs. transperineal ultrasonographic approach
- The origin of amniotic fluid monocytes/macrophages in women with intra-amniotic inflammation or infection
- Placental elasticity assessment by point shear wave elastography in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction
- A 17-years analysis of terminations of pregnancy ≥14 weeks of gestation in a German level 1 perinatal center
- Simulation of an impacted fetal head extraction during cesarean section: description of the creation and evaluation of a new training program
- Academic tweeting in #ObGyn. Where do we stand?
- Original Articles – Fetus
- Fetal heart examination at the time of 13 weeks scan: a 5 years’ prospective study
- Comparison of fetal cardiac functions between small-for-gestational age fetuses and late-onset growth-restricted fetuses
- Original Article – Newborn
- Protocols for early discharging of premature infants: an empirical assessment on safety and savings
- Letter to the Editor
- Maternal blood pressure levels prepartum correlate with neonatal birth weight in preeclampsia