E. Sinkovskaya

Collaborative study on 4-dimensional echocardiography for the diagnosis of fetal heart defects: The COFEHD study

Objective. Congenital anomalies are the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, and congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common type of birth defects. Recently, 4‐dimensional ultrasonography (4DUS) with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) has been introduced for fetal echocardiography. Accumulating evidence indicates that 4DUS with STIC may facilitate the examination of the fetal heart. Our objectives were to determine the accuracy of 4DUS for the diagnosis of CHDs and the agreement among centers. Methods. This study included 7 centers with expertise in 4D fetal echocardiography. Fetuses with and without confirmed heart defects were scanned between 18 and 26 weeks, and their volume data sets were uploaded onto a centralized file transfer protocol server. Intercenter agreement was determined using a κ statistic for multiple raters. Results. Ninety volume data sets were randomly selected for blinded analysis. Overall, the median (range) sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and false‐positive and ‐negative rates for the identification of fetuses with CHDs were 93% (77%–100%), 96% (84%–100%), 96% (83%–100%), 93% (79%–100%), 4.8% (2.7%–25%), and 6.8% (5%–22%), respectively. The most frequent CHDs were conotruncal anomalies (36%). There was excellent intercenter agreement (κ = 0.97). Conclusions. (1) Four‐dimensional volume data sets can be remotely acquired and accurately interpreted by different centers. (2) Among centers with technical expertise, 4DUS is an accurate and reliable method for fetal echocardiography.

Posterior brain in fetuses with Dandy–Walker malformation with complete agenesis of the cerebellar vermis at 11–13 weeks: a pilot study

This study aimed to measure the changes in the posterior brain in fetuses with Dandy–Walker malformation (DWM) with complete agenesis of the cerebellar vermis between 11+0 and 13+6 weeks of gestation.

Collaborative Study on 3-Dimensional Sonography for the Prenatal Diagnosis of Central Nervous System Defects

Prenatal diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) anomalies by 2‐dimensional sonography is challenging because of difficulties in obtaining complete visualization of the fetal brain during routine examinations, which is necessary for identification of its axial, coronal, and sagittal planes. Three‐dimensional (3D) sonography has been introduced as a tool for studying the fetal CNS because of its ability to facilitate examinations of the fetal brain. The objective of this study was to determine inter‐center agreement in diagnosing CNS defects by review of 3D volume data sets.

Fetal cardiac axis and congenital heart defects in early gestation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between cardiac axis and fetal congenital heart defects to demonstrate the potential clinical applicability of cardiac axis measurement for detection of congenital heart defect in early gestation. METHODS: This case–control study was undertaken in three tertiary centers with expertise in fetal imaging in early gestation. Fetal cardiac axis was evaluated between 11 0/7 and 14 6/7 weeks of gestation in 197 fetuses with confirmed congenital heart defects. A control group was selected by matching each fetus with a congenital heart defect with two fetuses in the control group with similar crown-rump length (±5 mm) and date of study (±2 months). Cardiac axis was measured on the four-chamber view as the angle between the line that traces the long axis of the heart and the line that bisects the thorax in an anteroposterior direction. RESULTS: In the control group, mean cardiac axis was 44.5±7.4°. The cardiac axis did not significantly change in early pregnancy. In the congenital heart defect group, 25.9% of fetuses had cardiac axis measurements within normal limits. In 74.1%, the cardiac axis was abnormal including 110 fetuses in the case group with left deviation (cardiac axis >97.5th percentile), 19 fetuses in the case group with right deviation (cardiac axis <2.5th percentile), and 17 fetuses in the case group with nonidentifiable cardiac axis. The performance of cardiac axis measurement in detection of major congenital heart defect was significantly better than enlarged nuchal translucency, tricuspid regurgitation, or reversed A-wave in ductus venosus used alone or in combination. CONCLUSION: Abnormal cardiac axis is present in two-thirds of fetuses with congenital heart defect in early gestation. Adding cardiac axis assessment to the nuchal translucency measurement is helpful in defining a population at risk for fetal congenital heart defect. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II

Defining the fetal cardiac axis between 11 + 0 and 14 + 6 weeks of gestation: experience with 100 consecutive pregnancies

The purpose of this study was to establish normal fetal cardiac axis values during the first and early second trimesters of pregnancy.

Fetal left brachiocephalic vein in normal and abnormal conditions

To establish values of fetal left brachiocephalic vein (LBCV) dimensions during normal pregnancy and determine whether routine assessment of the LBCV may help in identifying fetuses with congenital abnormalities of this vessel.

A novel systematic approach to the evaluation of the fetal venous system

Sonographic evaluation of the fetal venous system in normal and abnormal conditions has drawn increasing interest in recent years. Whereas the assessment of the fetal heart and the related arteries is standardized using well-defined planes, the fetal venous system is still lacking a systematic approach. In this article we present a novel sonographic algorithm for a systematic examination of the fetal venous system using six planes of transverse and oblique views of the fetal abdomen and chest. These planes, using two-dimensional and color Doppler, enable a targeted demonstration of the typical veins to include the umbilical vein, ductus venosus, portal veins, hepatic veins, inferior vena cava, azygos vein, pulmonary veins, coronary sinus, superior vena cava and brachiocephalic vein. We postulate that integrating such a sequential stepwise algorithm for the evaluation of the venous system into targeted fetal cardiac imaging may improve the detection of isolated and combined anomalies of the fetal systemic and pulmonary veins.

Dilated cavum septi pellucidi in fetuses with microdeletion 22q11

The cavum septi pellucidi (CSP) is an easily recognizable landmark in the fetal brain. CSP disappears after birth to form the septum pellucidum. Children with microdeletion 22q11 (del. 22q11) were, however, reported to have a persistent dilated CSP. This study was designed to examine whether the CSP is dilated in fetuses with del.22q11.

OC01.02: A step towards standardization in sonographic assessment of fetal venous system: sequential analysis of five‐transverse views

L. Rode1,2, K. Klein3, K. Nicolaides4, E. Krampl-Bettelheim3, I. Vogel5, H. Larsen6, A. Holmskov7, K. Riis Andreasen8, N. Uldbjerg9, J. Ramb10, B. Bødker11, L. Skibsted12,2, L. Sperling13, S. Hinterberger14, L. Krebs15, H. Zingenberg16, E. Weiss17, I. Strobl18, L. Laursen19, J. Tranberg Christensen20, B. M. Hansen21, A. Lando21, A. Tabor1,2 1Department of Fetal Medicine 4002, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; 2Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 4Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom; 5Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital Skejby, Aarhus, Denmark; 6Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Aalborg Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; 7Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Viborg Hospital, Viborg, Denmark; 8Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark; 9Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Aarhus University Hospital Skejby, Aarhus, Denmark; 10Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sønderborg Hospital, Sønderborg, Denmark; 11Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Hillerød Hospital, Hillerød, Denmark; 12Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Roskilde University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark; 13Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Herlev Hospital, Herlev, Denmark; 14Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, General Hospital of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria; 15Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Holbæk Hospital, Holbæk, Denmark; 16Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark; 17Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; 18Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; 19Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 20Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Gentofte Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark; 21Department of Neonatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

Cardiac axis shift within the cardiac cycle of normal fetuses and fetuses with congenital heart defect

To investigate changes in the cardiac axis (CAx) within the cardiac cycle of normal fetuses and fetuses with congenital heart defects (CHD).