Interventricular septal thickness of Thai fetuses: at 32 to 35 weeks' gestation.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the normal value of fetal InterVentricular Septal Thickness (IVST) from 32 to 35 weeks' gestation in Thai fetuses.


METHODS
Thai pregnant women with normal fetuses were recruited for prenatal 2-dimensional M-mode echocardiographic measurements of fetal IVST at 32 to 35 weeks' gestation. All had a confirmed gestational age, normal structural scanning and negative diabetic screening at 24 to 28 weeks 'gestation. The IVST was measured from the 4-chamber view during diastole and systole. The 5th, 50th and 95th percentile of the IVST during Diastole (IVSD) and the IVST during Systole (IVSS) were demonstrated The relationship between the IVSD and IVSS and gestational age were determined


RESULTS
A total of 410 measurements were obtained. The normal values of the IVSD and IVSS according to gestational age were presented as 5th, 50th and 95th percentile ranks. The correlation coefficients (r) between the IVSD and IVSS and gestational age were 0.11 and 0.12, respectively. The IVSD and IVSS were not statistically different with advancing gestation. The 95th, percentile of the IVSD was 4.51 millimeters (mm) (range = 4.26 to 4.74 mm) and IVSS was 6.23 mm (range = 5.96 to 6.68 mm). The intraobserver variability was 7.6%.


CONCLUSIONS
The normal values of fetal IVSD and IVSS in a Thai population from 32 to 35 weeks' gestation were established. This could be used as a baseline data in detecting the asymmetrical septal hypertrophy during fetal life.
Patchakapat
Lawan
L
Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. lawanpat_pat@hotmail.com
Uerpairojkit
Boonchai
B
Wacharaprechanont
Teera
T
Manotaya
Saknan
S
Tanawattanacharoen
Somchai
S
Charoenvidhya
Dhiraphongs
D
D000328:Adult; D003971:Diastole; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012016:Reference Values; D013599:Systole; D013785:Thailand; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal