title: Concordance of fetal echocardiography in the diagnosis of congenital cardiac disease utilizing updated guidelines.
abstract: Objective:We sought to examine the concordance of prenatally diagnosed congenital cardiac disease with postnatal echocardiography.Study design:Patients who underwent fetal echocardiograms performed by pediatric cardiologists at a single referral center from January to December 2014 were reviewed. Fetal echocardiography exams were performed in accordance with guidelines by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines (2013 and 2014, respectively). The concordance of prenatal diagnosis was compared to postnatal echocardiograms.Result:One hundred and six patients were included. Overall, the prenatal diagnosis precisely matched the postnatal diagnosis in 69.8%, minor discrepancies were seen in 14.2% and major differences were seen in 16% of cases. Three cases with major differences resulted in a more guarded postnatal prognosis; all three were fetuses with complex disease where the additional finding of total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) was missed.Conclusion:Fetal echocardiograms performed in our specialized fetal cardiology program are in high agreement with postnatal diagnosis of congenital cardiac disease. A worse postnatal prognosis is uncommon. Emphasis on pulmonary venous imaging in complex congenital heart disease is vital.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Minnesota Perinatal Physicians, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Marijo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilera
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, the Children's Heart Clinic at the Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dummer
keywords: Fetal echocardiography; fetal heart/diagnostic imaging; heart defects; pregnancy; prenatal diagnosis; ultrasonography