Research article summary (published 30 Jan 2008):

Ductus venosus blood flow resistance and congenital heart defects in the second trimester.

Full Abstract

PURPOSE: To study the association between fetal cardiac defects and the presence of abnormal blood flow resistance of the ductus venosus during the second trimester of pregnancy. METHODS: This retrospective case-control study included 72 pregnancies with fetal cardiac anomalies and 267 normal pregnancies. In fetuses with cardiac anomalies, Doppler velocimetry resistances of the ductus venosus were serially determined prior to birth. The Doppler velocimetry resistances obtained from fetuses with cardiac anomalies were in turn compared with median values derived from 267 normal pregnancies to compensate for biometric bias due to gestational age. RESULTS: Among the 72 pregnancies with fetal cardiac anomalies, 26 fetuses showed isolated congenital heart disease (CHD) without nonimmune fetal hydrops (NIFH) (group A), 10 fetuses showed isolated CHD with severe heart defects, including atrioventricular valve insufficiency and consecutive cardiogenic NIHF (group B), and 36 fetuses showed chromosomal abnormalities, nonchromosomal extracardiac malformations, noncardiogenic NIHF, and fetal growth restriction summarized as nonisolated CHD (group C). Based on the pulsatility index for the vein of the ductus venosus, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves was 0.71, 0.73, and 0.86 for groups A, B, and C, respectively. CONCLUSION: In the 36 fetuses from group C, increased pulsatility index for vein of the ductus venosus (DVPIV) yielded a significant area under the ROC curve (0.86) with a sensitivity of 0.78 and a specificity of 0.78. Increased DVPIVs during the second trimester of pregnancy are highly correlated with fetal cardiac anomalies associated with chromosomal and extracardiac anomalies. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Author information

Author/s: Hung, Jeng Hsiu (JH); Fu, Chong Yau (CY); Lu, Jen-Her (JH); Hung, Chia-Yi Selena (CY);

Affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of clinical ultrasound : JCU (J Clin Ultrasound), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Feb; vol 36 (issue 2) : pp 72-8

Dates: Created 2008/01/08; Completed 2008/03/06;

PMID: 17676619, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Blood Flow Velocity - physiology Diagnosis, Differential Female Fetal Heart - embryology; ultrasonography Follow-Up Studies Gestational Age Heart Defects, Congenital - physiopathology; ultrasonography Humans

Humans Pregnancy Pregnancy Trimester, Second Reproducibility of Results Retrospective Studies Severity of Illness Index Ultrasonography, Doppler - methods Ultrasonography, Prenatal - methods

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• Venous Doppler ultrasound in 146 fetuses with congenital heart disease. 29 Sep 2003
• Fetal cardiac ventricle volumetry in the second half of gestation assessed by 4D ultrasound using STIC combined with inversion mode. 30 Jul 2007
• [Evaluation of fetal heart anatomy at the end of the first trimester and the beginning of the mid-trimester] 29 Sep 2003
• What to expect from routine midtrimester screening for congenital heart disease. 29 Sep 2000
• Is an isolated fetal cardiac echogenic focus an indication for fetal echocardiography? 29 Sep 2001
• Cardiac dysfunction in transgenic mouse fetuses overexpressing shortened type XIII collagen. 13 May 2008
• Three-dimensional (3D) and 4D color Doppler fetal echocardiography using spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC). 30 May 2004
• Doppler assessment of fetal aortic isthmus blood flow in two different sonographic planes during the second half of gestation. 30 Jul 2005
• Four-dimensional sonography with B-flow imaging and spatiotemporal image correlation for visualization of the fetal heart. 29 Apr 2008
• Outcome of fetuses and infants with double inlet single left ventricle. 16 Apr 2008

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.