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. 2023 Apr 24;15(4):e38052.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.38052. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Application of Semiautomatic Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) in Twin Pregnancies: Half the Work or Twice the Effort?

Michael Gembicki  1 , Amrei Welp  1 , Jann Lennard Scharf  1 , Christoph Dracopoulos  1 , Jan Weichert  1
Affiliations

Application of Semiautomatic Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) in Twin Pregnancies: Half the Work or Twice the Effort?

Michael Gembicki et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the performance of fetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (FINE, 5D Heart™) for automated volumetric investigation of the fetal heart in twin pregnancies.

Methods: Three hundred twenty-eight twin fetuses underwent fetal echocardiography in the second and third trimesters. Spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) volumes were obtained for a volumetric investigation. The volumes were analyzed using the FINE software, and the data were investigated regarding image quality and many properly reconstructed planes.

Results: Three hundred and eight volumes underwent final analysis. 55.8% of the included pregnancies were dichorionic twin pregnancies, and 44.2% were monochorionic twin pregnancies. The mean gestational age (GA) was 22.1 weeks, and the mean maternal BMI was 27.3 kg/m2. The STIC-volume acquisition was successful in 100.0% and 95.5% of cases. The overall depiction rates of FINE were 96.5% (twin 1) and 94.7% (twin 2), respectively (p = 0.0849, not significant). In 95.9% (twin 1) and 93.9% (twin 2), at least 7 planes were reconstructed properly (p = 0.6056, not significant).

Conclusion: Our results indicate that the FINE technique used in twin pregnancies is reliable. No significant difference between the depiction rates of twin 1 and twin 2 could be detected. In addition, the depiction rates are as high as those derived from singleton pregnancies. Due to the challenges of fetal echocardiography in twin pregnancies (i.e., greater rates of cardiac anomaly and more difficult scans), the FINE technique might be a valuable tool to improve the quality of medical care in those pregnancies.

Keywords: 3d/4d; automatization; fetal echocardiography; spatiotemporal image correlation; stic; twin pregnancies; ultrasound.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. All views of the structurally normal (A) (normal heart, a 21-year-old female patient at 17+1 weeks of gestation, BMI 25.4 kg/m^2) and abnormal (B) (hypoplastic left heart, a 34-year-old female patient at 21+0 weeks of gestation, BMI 27.4 kg/m^2) fetal heart processed by fetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (FINE).
1. three vessel-trachea view; 2. four-chamber view; 3. five-chamber view; 4. left ventricular outflow tract; 5. short axis view of great vessels/right ventricular outflow tract; 6. abdomen/stomach; 7. ductal arch; 8. aortic arch; and 9. superior and inferior vena cava.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Correctly shown planes after processing with fetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (FINE) [number of planes, mean with SD].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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