Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May;161(2):412-416.
doi: 10.1002/ijgo.14633. Epub 2023 Jan 12.

Fetal echocardiography in a low-income setting: relying on local Maternal-fetal medicine experts for detection of fetal cardiac anomalies

Abraham Fessehaye Sium  1 , Abdulfetah Abdulkadir Abdosh  1 , Wondimu Gudu  1
Affiliations

Fetal echocardiography in a low-income setting: relying on local Maternal-fetal medicine experts for detection of fetal cardiac anomalies

Abraham Fessehaye Sium et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2023 May.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the experience of performing fetal echocardiography (FE) to detect fetal cardiac anomalies prenatally in an Ethiopian setting.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at St Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. Data for FE cases (on a risk-factor indication basis) performed at 22-24 weeks at the hospital during the study period were collected prospectively and analyzed using SPSSS version 23. Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results were presented as percentages and frequencies.

Results: A total of 142 women who had FE were analyzed in this study. Fetal structural defect in other systems and maternal diabetes mellitus were the commonest indications for FE, seen in 48.2% (67/142) and 25.7% (36/142) of the participants, respectively. There were 5 cases (3.5%) of fetal cardiac anomalies among which were hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary stenosis, and cardiac tumor.

Conclusion: The prevalence of fetal cardiac anomalies in this study was found to be 3.5%. Fetal structural defects and maternal diabetes mellitus were the commonest indications for FE which is consistent with findings from previous similar studies.

Keywords: cardiac anomalies; congenital cardiac disease; echocardiography; fetal cardiac anomalies; fetal echocardiography; prenatal diagnosis of cardiac anomalies.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Schleich JM, Almange C. L'échocardiographie foetale [Fetal echocardiography]. Arch Pediatr. 1998;5(11):1236-1245. French. doi:10.1016/s0929-693x(98)81243-8
    1. Copel JA, Pilu G, Kleinman CS. Congenital heart disease and extracardiac anomalies: associations and indications for fetal echocardiography. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1986;154:1121-1132.
    1. Copel JA, Kleinman CS. The impact of fetal echocardiography on perinatal outcome. Ultrasound Med Biol. 1986;12:327-335.
    1. Noronha Neto C, Souza ASR, de Moraes Filho OB, Noronha AMB. Validation of ultrasound diagnosis of fetal anomalies at a specialist center. Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2009;55(5):541-546.
    1. Donofrio MT, Moon-Grady AJ, Hornberger LK, et al. American Heart Association adults with congenital heart disease joint Committee of the Council on cardiovascular disease in the young and council on clinical cardiology, council on cardiovascular surgery and anesthesia, and council on cardiovascular and stroke nursing. Diagnosis and treatment of fetal cardiac disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2014;129(21):2183-2242.

LinkOut - more resources