Assessment of long-axis ventricular function in the fetal heart with a tissue-tracking algorithm
-
Onur Onugoren
,
Elisabeth Gottschalk
Abstract
Objective: Tissue-tracking echocardiography (TTE) is a method for quantitative assessment of myocardial contraction and relaxation. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of TTE in fetuses and investigate fetal myocardial properties in normal pregnancies.
Methods: Two hundred thirty pregnant women participated in the study. Fetal four-chamber-view cineloops were saved for off-line analysis. Reference values for the global longitudinal peak velocity (V), strain (S), strain rate (SR), and displacement (D) in the fetal heart were established using data from 62 right ventricles (RV) and 68 left ventricles (LV). Furthermore, the change of the motion (V and D) and deformation (S and SR) in the course of the pregnancy was analyzed. Intraobserver variability was assessed in a total of 137 cases. The remaining 93 cases were excluded, as there was no tracking possible.
Results: Normal fetuses exhibit a statistically significant increase in all motion parameters in both ventricles with increasing gestational age (GA). In contrast, the deformation parameters with advancing GA decrease. RV has a higher diastolic V and SR than LV.
Conclusions: The increase in motion is attributable to fetal cardiac growth, whereas the decrease in deformation para\xadmeters indicates an intrauterine adaptation mechanism. RV appears to have a different relaxation pattern than LV. This study establishes a base for further utilization of TTE in fetal medicine and emphasizes a distinct diastolic difference between RV and LV function.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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- Review Article
- Retinal microvascular changes in low-birth-weight babies have a link to future health
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Chromosomal mosaicisms in prenatal diagnosis: correlation with first trimester screening and clinical outcome
- Perinatal impact of the use of metformin and glyburide for the treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus
- Incidence and causes of maternal thrombocytopenia in triplet gestation
- Maternal and paternal age and twinning in the United States, 2004–2008
- Correlates of the trend of cesarean section rates in twin pregnancies
- Prospective risk of stillbirth: monochorionic diamniotic twins vs. dichorionic twins
- Association between increased yolk sac diameter and abnormal karyotypes
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- Original Articles – Fetus
- Fetal sex and perinatal outcomes
- Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG): moving forward in the establishment of clinical reference data by advanced biomagnetic instrumentation and analysis
- Maternal and fetal cord blood lipids in intrauterine growth restriction
- Assessment of long-axis ventricular function in the fetal heart with a tissue-tracking algorithm
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- A cluster of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus colonization in a nursery
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- Opinion Paper
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