title: Echogenic intracardiac focus in fetus and association with maternal respiratory tract infection in Shanghai, China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between fetal echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) and maternal respiratory tract infections (RTI) during gestation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fetal echocardiography was performed on 1,720 pregnant women (1,723 fe- tuses), and 205 of them showed evidence of fetal EIF. Other 245 pregnancies without fetal EIF were selected randomly as a control group. Comparison was undertaken to evaluate the difference between these two groups, and the possible association between EIF and maternal RTI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EIF was present in 11.9% of the examined fetuses, and the presence of fetal EIF with maternal RTI was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those without RTI. Multivariate logistic regression correction of RTI showed that the likelihood of EIF was 49 fold higher in pregnant women with RTI than without it (odds ratio [OR] = 49.958, 95% confidence interval [CI], 25.973~96.092, p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fetal EIF is suggested to be associated with maternal RTI during gestation in the present study population.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D014505:Urban Population