title: Outcome for fetuses with prenatally detected congenital heart disease and cardiac arrhythmias in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Outcome for fetuses with prenatally detected congenital heart disease (CHD) and/or cardiac arrhythmias is important for prenatal counseling and perinatal management; however, there exists little literature regarding the outcome for CHD diagnosed in utero in Taiwan. Therefore, we attempted to investigate the outcome for fetuses with CHD and/or cardiac arrhythmias diagnosed prenatally at a tertiary care medical center in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 1995 and December 2000, 339 patients referred to the National Taiwan University Hospital for fetal echocardiography were included in this study. Medical records were reviewed retrospectively to determine the salient clinical characteristics for all fetuses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CHD was found in 103 fetuses. Gestational age at diagnosis ranged from 17 to 40 weeks; in 37 cases (35.9%) the diagnosis was made before 24 weeks. Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 27.8 weeks. Of the 103 cases, 15 fetuses (14.6%) had major extra cardiac malformations and 15 fetuses (14.6%) had chromosomal abnormalities (five had both) and 30 pregnancies (29.1%) were terminated. Of the remaining 73 pregnancies, three (4.1%) of the fetuses died in utero and 28 (38.4%) postnatally, with 42 (57.5%) surviving. The mortality rates were both 60% in cases with extracardiac or chromosomal anomalies. Arrhythmias were identified in 25, and two pregnancies involving hydrops fetalis were terminated. Of the remaining 23 continued pregnancies, two (8.7%) with long QT syndrome expired postnatally.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Outcome for fetuses with prenatally detected CHD remains poor, with the prognosis negatively influenced by the presence of complex heart defects as well as extracardiac and chromosomal anomalies. However, prognosis is good for fetuses with cardiac arrhythmia, except with long QT syndrome or hydrops fetalis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheng-Mou
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Mei-Hwan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hei-Jen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jou
authors.forename: Chien-Nan
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ming-Kwang
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Shyu
authors.forename: Jin-Chung
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Fon-Jou
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal