Ductus venosus blood flow resistance and congenital heart defects in the second trimester.
OBJECTIVE
To study the association between fetal cardiac defects and the presence of abnormal blood flow resistance of the ductus venosus during the second trimester of pregnancy.


METHODS
This retrospective case-control study included 72 pregnancies with fetal cardiac anomalies and 267 normal pregnancies. In fetuses with cardiac anomalies, Doppler velocimetry resistances of the ductus venosus were serially determined prior to birth. The Doppler velocimetry resistances obtained from fetuses with cardiac anomalies were in turn compared with median values derived from 267 normal pregnancies to compensate for biometric bias due to gestational age.


RESULTS
Among the 72 pregnancies with fetal cardiac anomalies, 26 fetuses showed isolated congenital heart disease (CHD) without nonimmune fetal hydrops (NIFH) (group A), 10 fetuses showed isolated CHD with severe heart defects, including atrioventricular valve insufficiency and consecutive cardiogenic NIHF (group B), and 36 fetuses showed chromosomal abnormalities, nonchromosomal extracardiac malformations, noncardiogenic NIHF, and fetal growth restriction summarized as nonisolated CHD (group C). Based on the pulsatility index for the vein of the ductus venosus, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves was 0.71, 0.73, and 0.86 for groups A, B, and C, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In the 36 fetuses from group C, increased pulsatility index for vein of the ductus venosus (DVPIV) yielded a significant area under the ROC curve (0.86) with a sensitivity of 0.78 and a specificity of 0.78. Increased DVPIVs during the second trimester of pregnancy are highly correlated with fetal cardiac anomalies associated with chromosomal and extracardiac anomalies.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jeng Hsiu
JH
Hung
Chong Yau
CY
Fu
Jen-Her
JH
Lu
Chia-Yi Selena
CY
Hung
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000196:embryology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*