Is it Worth to Evaluate the Fetal Heart With Color Doppler Scan at 11 to 13+6 Weeks?

Abstract

This study was conducted to try to achieve the success rate to detect fetal cardiac malformations and/or tricuspid regurgitation with color Doppler during first trimester ultrasound scan within a short period (less than 3 minutes) in a general low-risk population. For this purpose, we started a prospective study, evaluating 240 consecutive single pregnancies, by a single examiner, during the first trimester ultrasound scan (crown to rump length between 45 and 84 mm) using a Voluson E8 system (GE Healthcare, Zipf, Austria) with a 2- to 8-MHz RAB 4-8-D transabdominal probe. Pulsed-wave and color Doppler flow mapping was used to assess the blood flow through the tricuspid valve. In addition, color Doppler was used to evaluate the 4-chamber view, the great vessels ("V sign"), and the right subclavian artery. Blood flow in the tricuspid valve could be examined in 206 cases (85.8%). Of these, tricuspid regurgitation was detected in 17 cases (7.1%) with both pulsed-wave and color Doppler. The 4-chamber view, the V sign, and the right subclavian artery could be evaluated in 188 cases (78.3%). One case of aberrant right subclavian artery and 2 suspicious of cardiac malformations were detected. In our opinion, using color Doppler during first trimester ultrasound scan, even for a short period (<3 minutes), probably adds important information about the fetal heart.