5
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Fetal cardiac function: technical considerations and potential research and clinical applications.

      1 ,
      Fetal diagnosis and therapy
      S. Karger AG

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPubMed
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Fetal echocardiography was initially used to detect structural anomalies but has more recently also been proposed to assess fetal cardiac function. This review summarizes technical issues and limitations in fetal cardiac function evaluation, as well as its potential research and clinical applications. Functional echocardiography has been demonstrated to select high-risk populations and to be associated with outcome in several fetal conditions including intrauterine growth restriction, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, maternal diabetes, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Fetal heart evaluation is challenging due to the smallness and high heart rate of the fetus and restricted access to the fetus far from the transducer. Due to these limitations and differences in cardiac function which are related to fetal maturation, cardiovascular parameters should be validated in the fetus and used with caution. Despite these precautions, in expert hands and with appropriate ultrasound equipment, evaluation of cardiac function is feasible in most fetuses. Functional fetal echocardiography is a promising tool that may soon be incorporated into clinical practice. Research is warranted to further refine the contribution of fetal cardiac assessment to the diagnosis, monitoring, or prediction of outcomes in various fetal conditions.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Fetal. Diagn. Ther.
          Fetal diagnosis and therapy
          S. Karger AG
          1421-9964
          1015-3837
          2012
          : 32
          : 1-2
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Institut Clínic de Ginecologia, Obstetrícia i Neonatologia, Hospital Clinic - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. fcrispi@clinic.ub.es
          Article
          000338003
          10.1159/000338003
          22614129
          471497fb-556d-42f8-9dca-30a3cb59f346
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article