The Application of an Anatomical Database for Fetal Congenital Heart Disease

The construction and application of an ultrasound and anatomical cross-sectional database of structural malformations of the fetal heart

OBJECTIVES

Establish a fetal heart anatomical cross-sectional database that correlates with screening transverse ultrasound images suggested by international professional organizations to detect congenital heart defects.

METHODS

Fetuses with suspected congenital heart defects identified using the following cardiac image sequences obtained from transverse slices beginning from the upper abdomen and ending in the upper thorax were the subjects of this study: (1) four-chamber view, (2) left ventricular outflow tract view, (3) three-vessel right ventricular outflow tract view, and (4) the three-vessel tracheal view. A database of digital two-dimensional images of the transverse sweep was created for fetuses with confirmed congenital heart defects. In addition, using four-dimensional ultrasound spatial-temporal image correlation, selected transverse ultrasound images were acquired as part of the database. Ultrasound-detected congenital heart defects were confirmed postnatally from pathological specimens of the heart and lungs using a cross-sectional technique that mirrored the ultrasound images described above. When anatomical specimens were not available, prenatal ultrasound-detected congenital heart defects were confirmed using postnatal echocardiography and/or following surgery.

RESULTS

The four screening views described in the Methods section identified 160 fetuses that comprised the database. Forty-five datasets consisted of both ultrasound and anatomical cross-sectional images. Thirteen percent (6/45) only had abnormalities of the four-chamber view (eg, endocardial cushion defects). Twenty-four percent (11/45) had abnormalities of the four-chamber view as well as right and left outflow tracts (eg, complex malformations). Of these, 10 of 11 had an abnormal tracheal view. Sixteen percent (7/45) had an abnormal four-chamber view and abnormal right outflow tract (eg, pulmonary stenosis). Thirty-three percent (15/45) had a normal four-chamber view but had abnormal right and left outflow tracts as well as an abnormal tracheal view (eg, tetralogy of Fallot, D-transposition of the great arteries).

CONCLUSIONS

Combining both ultrasound and anatomical imaging may be of assistance in training imagers to recognize cardiovascular pathology when performing the screening examination of the fetal heart.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Right Dominant Heart in Fetuses: A Tertiary Center Experience over a 7-year Period

Background:

Right dominant heart (RDH) in fetuses can occur with a number of cardiac as well as noncardiac anomalies. Analysis of the enlargement of the right cardiac chamber in the fetus remains a major challenge for sonographers and echocardiographers. The aim of this study was to report the experience with prenatal diagnosis of RDH in the fetuses over a 7-year period.

Methods:

Fetuses with prenatal diagnosis of RDH from July 2009 to July 2016 were evaluated in two different categories: according to the gestational age, Group I (n = 154, second trimester) and Group II (n = 298, third trimester); and according to the fetal echocardiography diagnosis, Group A (n = 452, abnormal cardiac structure) and Group B (n = 90, normal cardiac structure). Differences in categorical variables were assessed by Chi-square exact test and continuous variables were evaluated by independent Student's t-test or Mann–Whitney U-test depending on parametric or nonparametric nature of the data.

Results:

Over a 7-year period, 452 fetuses were referred for the assessment of suspected RDH. Left-sided obstructive lesions were observed most frequently in the fetuses with RDH. When comparing Group I with Group II and Group A with Group B, the latter groups exhibited significant differences in the right/left ventricle (RV/LV) ratio (1.435 vs. 1.236, P = 0.002; 1.309 vs. 1.168, P = 0.047), RV width Z-score (1.626 vs. 1.104, P < 0.001; 1.553 vs. 0.814, P = 0.014), and above +2 cutoff percentages (14.3% vs. 22.5%; P = 0.038; 21.5% vs. 12.2%, P = 0.046). Multivariable logistic regression revealed no variables associated with perinatal survival.

Conclusions:

The study demonstrates that RDH warrants careful attention to the possible presence of a structural cardiac anomaly, especially left-sided obstructive lesions. A diagnosis of RDH is best supported by a combination of the RV Z-score and RV/LV ratio. Most of the fetuses with RDH and structurally normal hearts had favorable outcomes.

Effectiveness of medical self-experience counseling in pregnant women after echocardiographic detection of a suspected fetal heart anomaly: A longitudinal study

AIM

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to assess maternal psychological responses after echocardiographic detection of a suspected fetal heart anomaly and to evaluate a medical self-experience counseling intervention in improving psychological responses.

METHODS

A total of 751 women were referred to Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan during May 2014 and April 2015. To analyze the psychological impact on the mothers, the groups were divided into mild, intermediate and severe, according to heart defect severity. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) questionnaires were distributed in three steps: first evaluation, after the diagnostic examination; second evaluation, two weeks after step one, both study and control groups underwent routine psychological counseling; third evaluation, two weeks after step two, study groups underwent self-experience counseling and controls underwent routine counseling. Anxiety and depression scores and above clinical cut-off percentages in the subgroups were calculated and compared.

RESULTS

The severity of anxiety and depression was not significantly relieved with the alleviative type of suspicious heart abnormality. State-STAI and BDI-II scores and above clinical cut-off percentages were statistically different between steps 2 and 3 in intermediate and mild mothers. Women in control groups did not exhibit obvious relief of anxiety and depression.

CONCLUSION

Women pregnant with fetuses with mild or intermediate fetal heart abnormalities presented heightened levels of depression and anxiety when compared with mothers pregnant with fetuses with severe heart disease. Medical self-experience counseling played an important role in relieving anxiety and depression in these mothers.