Ultrasound Patterns in the First Trimester Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, with a reported prevalence of 5–12 per 1000 live births. Very recently, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine published a guideline recommending the use of the four-chamber and the three-vessel and trachea views to screen for...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Catalin G. Herghelegiu, Anca Maria Panaitescu, Simona Duta, Ana Maria Vayna, Anca Marina Ciobanu, Cristian Bulescu, Raluca Gabriela Ioan, Adrian Neacsu, Nicolae Gica, Alina Veduta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:Journal of Clinical Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/15/3206
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Summary:Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, with a reported prevalence of 5–12 per 1000 live births. Very recently, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine published a guideline recommending the use of the four-chamber and the three-vessel and trachea views to screen for CHD in the first trimester of pregnancy. Our aim is to present abnormal image patterns that are seen in the four-chamber, three-vessel, and trachea views of the fetal heart in the first trimester and to describe their association with specific CHD types. We used a total of 29 cases of CHD from the archives of Filantropia Hospital and the Maternal and Child Health Institute (INSMC) fetal medicine units. We selected cases with a clear and well-documented diagnosis of the CHD type. We identified a series of repeating color doppler flow patterns seen in the four-chamber, three-vessel, and trachea views of the studied cases. Our observations could be developed into a diagnosis algorithm to orientate the examiner to the most likely type of CHD in individual cases.
ISSN:2077-0383