title: [Perinatal management and outcome of different types of fetal arrhythmia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the perinatal management and outcome of different types of fetal arrhythmia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis was conducted among the fetuses with arrhythmia identified by M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography in a single institution between October 2003 and December 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 130 fetuses were found to have fetal arrhythmia. The most common arrhythmia during pregnancy was extrasystole (n=59), followed by bradycardia (n=23), tachycardia (n=16), atrial flutter (AF, n=3), atrioventricular block (AVB, n=12) and other arrhythmia (n=17). The overall incidence of cardiac anomalies (commonly fetal bradycardia) was 9.2% in these cases. The prognosis of arrhythmia differed significantly between cases of different classifications. The type of fetal arrhythmia (P=0.024), presence of congenital heart defect (CHD, P=0.000) and fetal hydrops (P=0.008) were significant risk factors associated with termination of pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fetal arrhythmias without CHD or hydrops under close monitoring often have good clinical outcome, while fetal bradycardia is associated with a high mortality rate. CHD and the presence of fetal hydrops are significant risk factors for pregnancy termination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. yan5ting@163.com
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yan-hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Shu-yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ou Yang
authors.forename: Sheng-li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Cong-ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hua-xuan
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Zhi-lian
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Yu-mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D055815:Young Adult