First-Trimester Fetal Echocardiography

4 First-Trimester Fetal Echocardiography




I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND





C. Transvaginal versus transabdominal approaches




1. Earlier data suggested that transabdominal imaging was less useful than transvaginal imaging for first-trimester screening.


a. Transabdominal fetal ultrasound allowed assessment of the four chambers in less than 20% at 13 to 14 weeks (Catanzarite and Quirk, 1990).


b. Transvaginal ultrasound at 13 to 14 weeks (Dolkart and Reimers, 1990; Johnson et al, 1992; Hornberger and Benacerraf, 1995).




2. More recent data suggest that transabdominal and transvaginal approaches complement each other.


a. Haak and colleagues (1992) attempted a full cardiac assessment, including a four-chamber view, aortic root, long axis of the aorta, pulmonary trunk, and great artery crossover.




b. Huggon and colleagues, 2002.






3. Doppler assessment.


a. Hornberger and Benacerraf (1995) studied the frequency with which Doppler flow can be demonstrated and found significant improvement with gestational age.


b. Leiva and colleagues (1999) studied first-trimester changes in flow patterns.







II. LIMITATIONS






Jun 18, 2016 | Posted by in CARDIOLOGY | Comments Off on First-Trimester Fetal Echocardiography

Full access? Get Clinical Tree

Get Clinical Tree app for offline access