Can live xPlane imaging of the in-plane view of interventricular septum be used to detect fetal conotruncal anomalies?

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of live xPlane imaging visualizing the in-plane view of IVS in the screening of the fetal conotruncal anomalies. Method: One hundred and fifty-two consecutive normal singleton fetuses and forty-eight fetal cardiac defects (27 conotruncal and 21 non-conotruncal cases), were enrolled in this study. The in-plane view of IVS was firstly acquired with live xPlane imaging and then judged whether it is normal or not by one operator. The focus was put on observing the relationship of pulmonary artery and aorta. The comparison between conotruncal and non-conotruncal anomalies in demonstrating the relationship of pulmonary artery and aorta was performed. Result: There were 27 cases of conotruncal anomalies enrolled in this study and 19 cases (70.4%) had the abnormal relationship of aorta and pulmonary artery in the in-plane view of IVS. In 21 cases of non-conotruncal CHDs, however, there were only 5 cases (23.8%) had the abnormal relationship in the in-plane view of IVS (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Live xPlane imaging of the in-plane view of IVS is feasible to detect the fetal conotruncal anomalies, which may potentially be a useful tool for the non-experienced operators to screen the fetal conotruncal anomalies.

Keyword::

• Congenital heart disease
• conotruncal anomalies
• fetal echocardiography
• matrix probe
• prenatal diagnosis
• real-time three-dimensional echocardiography

Declaration of Interest: This paper was partly supported by the grant of Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (S2011040000398) and Guangdong Medical Research Foundation, provided by the Health Administration of Guangdong Province, China (A20100520).