Regouin M, Mancini J, Lafouge A, Mace P, Fontaine N, Roussin S, Guichard J, Dumont C, Quarello E. The Left Outflow Tract in Fetal Cardiac Screening Examination: Introduction of Quality Criteria Is Not Always Associated With an Improvement of Practice When Supervised by Humans.
JOURNAL OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE 2023;
42:2095-2105. [PMID:
37163223 DOI:
10.1002/jum.16231]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Since 2016, the French CNEOF included the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) in the second and third trimester of pregnancy in addition to the four-chamber view and the parasagittal view of the right outflow tract. The objective of this study was to define quality criteria for fetal LVOT assessment and to perform a human audit of past and current practices, before and after the implementation of those quality criteria at a large scale.
METHODS
Seven quality criteria were investigated and rated from 0 to 1 during three periods of interest. Files were randomly selected from three centers, and average total and specific scores were calculated.
RESULTS
LVOT pictures were present in more than 94.3% of reports. The average quality score was 5.49/7 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.36-5.62), 5.91/7 (95% CI: 5.80-6.03), and 5.70/7 (95% CI: 5.58-5.82) for the three centers in the three periods of interest. There was no significant difference following the introduction of the quality criteria, 2017 versus 2020, P = .054.
CONCLUSION
Fetal LVOT images were present in most of ultrasound reports but the introduction of the proposed quality criteria under human supervision seems not associated with a significant change in practice.
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