Current Understanding of Indications, Technical Aspects and Outcomes of Fetal Cardiac Interventions

Abstract

With the improvement in the detection of congenital heart disease in fetal life, fetal cardiac interventions are pushing the envelope in hopes of either altering the natural history of disease or improving survival in certain high-risk lesions. These interventions include fetal aortic valvuloplasty for evolving hypoplastic left heart syndrome, fetal atrial septoplasty with or without atrial septal stenting for hypoplastic left heart syndrome and variants with intact or severely restrictive atrial septum, and fetal pulmonary valvuloplasty for severe pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum. This review discusses their indications, technical aspects, and outcomes based on available literature.

Keywords: Congenital heart disease; Fetal aortic valvuloplasty; Fetal atrial septostomy; Fetal cardiac intervention; Fetal hypoplastic left heart syndrome; Fetal intervention.