Comparison of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and spatiotemporal image correlation in assessment of fetal interventricular septum

Abstract

Objective: To compare the role of real-time 3DE and STIC technology in assessment of the fetal IVS. Methods: Fifty pregnant women with singleton pregnancies were invited to attend this study. All the fetuses were examined by both spatiotemporal image correlation and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography. There were totally six images of IVS obtained for each fetus: live xPlane image, live 3D image, multiplanar image and rendered image with the four-chamber view as the starting plane, multiplanar image and rendered image with the sagittal view of the fetal thorax as the starting plane. These images were grouped into six groups and randomized within each group for the further analysis. The images were scored and compared according to the image quality, the outline of the fetal IVS and motion artefact. The operator was also asked to judge whether VSD existed or not and the results were compared with the final diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, false positive percentage, positive likelihood ratio, false negative percentage and negative likelihood ratio of each group were also calculated. Results: There were 15 cases with VSD and four cases without VSD in CHD fetus and 31 cases of normal fetus enrolled in this study. A total 300 images of the lateral view of fetal IVS were obtained and grouped into six groups. The image quality in the group of STIC with the four-chamber view as the starting plane is much worse than the group of STIC with the sagittal view as the starting plane and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in image quality between the group of STIC with the sagittal view as the starting plane and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The image quality of real-time 3DE is similar to the images acquired by STIC from the sagittal view and superior to that obtained by STIC from the four-chamber view. However, real-time 3DE has no motion artefact, which has the potentials to improve the detection rate of fetal VSD.

Keywords::

• Congenital heart disease
• fetal echocardiography
• interventricular septum
• matrix probe
• prenatal diagnosis
• real-time three-dimensional echocardiography
• three-dimensional echocardiography
• ventricular septal defect

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).