Recent Trends in Indications of Fetal Echocardiography and Postnatal Outcomes in Fetuses Diagnosed as Congenital Heart Disease

• Published in: Korean circulation journal Vol. 42; no. 12; pp. 839 - 844
• Main Authors: Cha, Seulgi, Kim, Gi Beom, Kwon, Bo Sang, Bae, Eun Jung, Noh, Chung Il, Lim, Hong Gook, Kim, Woong Han, Lee, Jeong Ryul, Kim, Yong Jin, Choi, Jung Yun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Society of Cardiology 01.12.2012; 대한심장학회
• Subjects: Original; 내과학; Ultrasonography, prenatal; Echocardiography; Prenatal diagnosis; Heart defect, congenital
• ISSN: 1738-5520; 1738-5555; 1738-5555
• DOI: 10.4070/kcj.2012.42.12.839

We hypothesized that fetal echocardiography (echoCG) is an accurate diagnostic tool reflecting well postnatal echoCG findings and outcomes. We reviewed the medical records of 290 pregnant women, including 313 fetuses, who were examined by fetal echoCG at the Seoul National University Children's Hospital from January 2008 through April 2011. The mean gestational age at diagnosis was 26.2±5.2 weeks. The mean age of mothers at diagnosis was 31.7±3.8 years. We identified indications for fetal echoCG in 279 cases. The most common indication was abnormal cardiac findings in obstetrical screening sonography (52.0%). Among the 313 echoCG results, 127 (40.6%) were normal, 13 (4.2%) were minor abnormalities, 35 (11.2%) were simple cardiac anomalies, 50 (16.0%) were moderate cardiac anomalies, 60 (19.2%) were complex cardiac anomalies, 16 (5.1%) were arrhythmias, and 12 (3.8%) were twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. The most common congenital heart disease was tetralogy of Fallot (23 fetuses, 15.9%). One hundred forty-eight neonates were examined by echoCG. We analyzed differences between fetal echoCG and postnatal echoCG. In 131 (88.5%) cases, there was no difference; in 15 (10.1%), there were minor differences; and in only 2 (1.4%) cases, there were major differences. There is a recent increase in abnormal cardiac findings of obstetric ultrasonography screenings that indicate fetal echoCG. Fetal echoCG is still a good, accurate diagnostic method for congenital heart disease.