Fetal echocardiography: factors that influence imaging of the fetal heart during the second trimester of pregnancy

The four-chamber view of the heart is an important component of the ultrasonographic examination of the fetus. However, during the second trimester of pregnancy the fetal heart cannot always be imaged in every patient. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the rate of successful imaging of the fetal heart during the second trimester and to determine factors that may influence imaging. Seven hundred and nine second trimester fetuses were examined and an attempt was made to obtain the four-chamber and outflow tract views of the heart. Analysis included multiple logistic regression models of the main effects and interactions of ten candidate variables. The four chambers and outflow tracts were imaged in 643 fetuses (90.7%) and not imaged in 66 (9.3%). Fifty-two of 709 patients (7.3%) had had previous surgery. In the 52 patients with a history of previous surgery, the heart could not be imaged in 18 (34%). Six hundred and fifty-seven patients (92.7%) did not have previous surgery. Of this group, the fetal heart could not be imaged in 48 (7.3%). In only one fetus in which the heart could not be imaged was it because of fetal position. Three independent risk factors that influenced imaging of the fetal heart were gestational age, maternal adipose tissue thickness, and previous lower abdominal surgery. Increasing gestational age increased the probability of imaging the heart, whereas increasing adipose tissue thickness and a history of previous surgery decreased the probability of imaging the heart. When the fetal heart cannot be imaged during the second trimester, these factors should be identified. Using data from this study, the gestational age at which the highest probability of imaging the heart can be determined if the thickness of the adipose tissue and a history of lower abdominal surgery are known.     

Fetal echocardiography: the prenatal diagnosis of tricuspid atresia (type Ic) during the second trimester of pregnancy

Fetal echocardiography (real-time and M-mode) was used to evaluate a fetus at 20 weeks of gestation because intermittent bradycardia had been auscultated at 14 weeks of gestation. Real-time examination of the four-chamber view suggested ventricular disproportion with the left ventricle larger than the right, absence of the tricuspid valve, atrial and ventricular septal defects, and normal pulmonic and aortic outflow tracts. M-mode quantitation demonstrated a dilated left ventricle, small right ventricle, dilated mitral valve, hypertrophy of the left ventricular wall, and normal outflow tract dimensions. Following the diagnosis of tricuspid atresia (type Ic), genetic amniocentesis was performed (46,XX). Intrauterine death occurred during the 28th week of gestation. Autopsy confirmed the echocardiographic findings.     

Fetal lateral ventricular ratio determination during the second trimester

Ventriculomegaly may be diagnosed sonographically by identifying abnormal ventricular size. The lateral ventricular ratio (LVR) is a useful index in differentiating normal-sized ventricles from ventriculomegaly. The purpose of this study was to validate previously reported data establishing the normal range for LVR during the second trimester. Prior to 24 weeks, the diagnosis of ventriculomegaly may be difficult since the LVR normal range is quite large. The LVRs for 122 normal fetal ultrasound examinations were calculated based on measurements obtained by three observers. Data were obtained for fetuses during each week of gestation from 15 to 25 weeks. Lateral ventricular ratios varied from 56 +/- 18 per cent (mean +/- 2 standard deviations) at 15 weeks to 33 +/- 4 per cent at 25 weeks. The lateral ventricular width (LVW) range for normal fetuses was 0.7 to 1.1 cm as compared with a LVW range of 1.1 to 2.7 cm for 16 fetuses with hydrocephalus diagnosed during the second trimester. In conclusion, the LVR is extremely useful in differentiating ventriculomegaly from normal ventricular size. Serial ultrasound examinations are often mandatory in the second trimester in order to definitely identify ventriculomegaly. In addition, normal ventricular size may be verified with a LVW of less than 1.1 cm.     

Fetal spine morphology and maturation during the second trimester. Sonographic evaluation

We reviewed high-resolution real-time sonographic images (especially selected for a lack of technical artifacts) of the fetal spine of 46 normal fetuses between 18-27 menstrual weeks of development. The degree of visible posterior neural arch ossification was graded and compared with the gestational age. Recognizable early ossification of the laminae was seen in the cervical region of all fetuses studied. Similar ossification followed sequentially in the thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions; however, sonographically recognizable ossification of the laminae in the lumbar spine was delayed until 22-24 weeks and in the sacral spine until 25 weeks or more. Awareness of these features will help to prevent false-positive diagnoses of dysraphism and, conversely, hopefully augment our ability to detect such lesions.     

Laparoscopic appendectomy during the second trimester of a twin pregnancy

Acute appendicitis during pregnancy may lead to increased maternal and fetal risks. Laparoscopic appendectomy is commonly performed during pregnancy. Compared with open appendectomy in pregnant women, laparoscopic appendectomy has shown non-inferior safety for pregnancy outcomes and superior safety for surgical outcomes. Over the last few decades, the occurrence of twin pregnancy has been increasing. Performing an operation on a patient with a twin pregnancy is more difficult than with a singleton pregnancy. Only a few operations of this kind have been reported. Here, we present a case of a 20-week twin pregnant woman who presented with acute appendicitis. Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed, and no maternal complications occurred. This report contributes to discussions on the safety of the laparoscopic approach for appendicitis during twin pregnancies.     

Fetal congenital cardiac diverticulum with pericardial effusion: two cases with different presentations in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Two cases of fetal congenital cardiac diverticula diagnosed at 14 and 12 weeks of gestation are reported. Both presented with a large pericardial effusion. One fetus presented with increased NT which evolved into fetal hydrops. Pericardiocentesis at 16 weeks led to progressive resolution of hydrops. The other showed no hemodynamic compromise, normal nuchal translucency (NT) and spontaneous regression of the effusion. Both children were well at 22 and 17 months of age at the time of writing.     

Fetal nose bone length: a marker for Down syndrome in the second trimester.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the significance of nasal bone length in relation to the detection of Down syndrome in the second trimester. METHODS: We evaluated consecutive fetuses referred to our facility between 15 and 20 weeks' gestation for sonography and amniocentesis because of an increased risk of aneuploidy. A detailed structural survey, biometric measurements, and measurement of the nasal bone were obtained at the time of amniocentesis and subsequently compared with karyotype. The characteristics of the fetuses with Down syndrome were compared with those of the euploid fetuses. RESULTS: A total of 239 fetuses were evaluated. Sixteen fetuses (7%) had Down syndrome, and 223 were euploid. In fetuses with Down syndrome, 6 (37%) of 16 did not have detectable nose bones, compared with 1 (0.5%) of 223 control fetuses, yielding a likelihood ratio of 83. Detectable nasal bones were seen in 10 fetuses with Down syndrome and 222 euploid fetuses. A receiver operating characteristic curve for the biparietal diameter-nasal bone length ratio showed that a value of 9 or greater detected 100% of fetuses with Down syndrome and 22% of euploid fetuses. If the ratio were 10 or greater, then 81 % fetuses with Down syndrome and 11 % of euploid fetuses would have been identified. If the ratio were 11 or greater, 69% of fetuses with Down syndrome would be identified, compared with 5% of euploid fetuses. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of a nasal bone is a powerful marker for Down syndrome. A short nasal bone is associated with an increased likelihood for fetal Down syndrome in a high-risk population.     

妊娠期腹腔镜手术17例临床分析

目的 探讨妊娠期腹腔镜手术的可行性、安全性以及治疗效果.方法 回顾性分析2005年2月～2007年10月该院收治的妊娠15～26周、盆腔肿块直径6 cm患者17例,采取腹腔镜下手术的临床资料.结果 完成卵巢囊肿剔除手术16例,其中单侧卵巢囊肿13例,双侧3例;子宫浆膜下肌瘤剔除术1例.平均手术时间32.7min;术中平均出血36mL,术后平均住院时间5.8d;未发生手术并发癌.17例均已妊娠至足月分娩,在早产率、新生儿出生体重和阿氏评分未发现异常.结论 妊娠期腹腔镜手术对母体或胎儿均是安全、可行的.     

Application of intelligent algorithms in Down syndrome screening during second trimester pregnancy

BACKGROUNDDown syndrome (DS) is one of the most common chromosomal aneuploidy diseases. Prenatal screening and diagnostic tests can aid the early diagnosis, appropriate management of these fetuses, and give parents an informed choice about whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. In recent years, investigations have been conducted to achieve a high detection rate (DR) and reduce the false positive rate (FPR). Hospitals have accumulated large numbers of screened cases. However, artificial intelligence methods are rarely used in the risk assessment of prenatal screening for DS.AIMTo use a support vector machine algorithm, classification and regression tree algorithm, and AdaBoost algorithm in machine learning for modeling and analysis of prenatal DS screening.METHODSThe dataset was from the Center for Prenatal Diagnosis at the First Hospital of Jilin University. We designed and developed intelligent algorithms based on the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE)-Tomek and adaptive synthetic sampling over-sampling techniques to preprocess the dataset of prenatal screening information. The machine learning model was then established. Finally, the feasibility of artificial intelligence algorithms in DS screening evaluation is discussed.RESULTSThe database contained 31 DS diagnosed cases, accounting for 0.03% of all patients. The dataset showed a large difference between the numbers of DS affected and non-affected cases. A combination of over-sampling and under-sampling techniques can greatly increase the performance of the algorithm at processing non-balanced datasets. As the number of iterations increases, the combination of the classification and regression tree algorithm and the SMOTE-Tomek over-sampling technique can obtain a high DR while keeping the FPR to a minimum. CONCLUSIONThe support vector machine algorithm and the classification and regression tree algorithm achieved good results on the DS screening dataset. When the T21 risk cutoff value was set to 270, machine learning methods had a higher DR and a lower FPR than statistical methods.     

中晚孕期正常胎儿母体子宫动脉血流动力学研究

目的：研究正常中晚孕期孕妇子宫动脉（UtA）血流波形的变化规律,建立正常中晚孕期孕妇UtA血流参数正常值范围。方法：应用彩色多普勒超声检查495例20～43孕周正常单胎胎儿,测量孕母UtA血流参数：心室收缩期峰值流速（S）、心室舒张期末血流速度（D）、搏动指数（PI）、阻力指数（RI）、心室收缩期峰值流速/心室舒张期末血流速度（S/D）。结果：正常中晚孕期孕妇UtA-S随孕周增加测值无明显改变,正常值范围为（98.72±39.25）cm/s,UtA-D值与胎儿孕周呈线性正相关,正常值范围（52.86±24.66）cm/s,UtA-PI、 UtA-RI及UtA-S/D与胎儿孕周呈线性负相关,正常值范围分别为0.72±0.22、0.47±0.09及1.95±0.40。结论：妊娠20～43周孕妇UtA-S值随孕周增加无明显变化,UtA-D值随孕周增加渐增大,UtA-PI、 UtA-RI及UtA-S/D值随孕周增加渐减小。     

孕11～13+6周胎儿超声心动图应用现状

心血管畸形是新生儿最常见的出生缺陷,为婴幼儿死亡的主要原因之一,越来越多的孕妇将产前检查作为胎儿心脏检查的重要手段,胎儿超声心动图在中孕及晚孕期的应用越来越广泛。孕早期胎儿超声心动图检查尚处于起步阶段。现拟对孕11～13+6周胎儿超声心动图的应用现状、存在问题及发展方向等进行综述。     

Uterine artery resistance and anxiety in the second trimester of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between maternal anxiety and uterine artery resistance index (RI) at 20 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Uterine artery blood flow was assessed using color Doppler ultrasound and maternal anxiety was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale in 96 healthy primigravid women attending consecutively for their routine 20-week anomaly scan. RESULTS: The mean uterine artery RI was 0.54 (95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.56) and the median HAD anxiety score was 6 (range, 0-20). There was no association between RI and anxiety scores (r = 0.09, P = 0.36). Women scoring as definite cases of anxiety did not have a significantly elevated uterine artery RI or increased frequency of waveform notching compared to women with doubtful or no anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The data of this study do not suggest a significant association between maternal anxiety and uterine artery RI at 20 weeks of gestation in healthy primigravid women with normally developing pregnancies. A prospective cohort study would be useful to determine the nature of the relationship between maternal anxiety, alteration in uterine artery blood flow and abnormal pregnancy outcome.     

产前超声筛选胎儿中晚期心脏病的临床研究

目的探讨四腔心观（FCV）加三血管-气管观（3VT）在胎儿中晚期心脏病产前超声筛选中的临床意义。方法应用Sequoia512彩色多普勒超声诊断仪，检查孕18～40周胎儿共3211例，与尸体解剖证实和产后超声追踪对照，比较单纯FCV、FCV加左、右室流出道观（FCV＋VOTV）、FCV加大动脉短轴观（FCV＋SAV）、FCV＋3VT筛选胎儿中晚期心脏畸形的敏感性。结果FCV筛选胎儿心脏病的敏感性为54％（91／169），FCV＋VOTV的敏感性为70％（118／169），FCV＋SAV的敏感性为66％（112／169）；FCV＋3VT的敏感性为85％（143／169），明显高于前三者（P〈0、05）。结论FCV＋3VT可以明显提高筛选技术的敏感性，缩短检查时间，可以作为筛选妊娠中晚期胎儿心脏病的首选方法。     

超声在诊断孕中期完全性子宫破裂中的价值

目的探讨超声在诊断孕中期完全性子宫破裂中的价值。 方法选取2010年至2019年在首都医科大学附属北京妇产医院收治的经手术证实的8例孕中期完全性子宫破裂患者,对8例患者的术前超声声像图特点及临床资料进行回顾性分析。 结果8例病例均存在异常超声表现,且复杂多样。结合高危因素及临床表现,超声明确诊断子宫破裂2例、先兆子宫破裂1例,可疑子宫破裂4例,误诊胎盘早剥1例。 结论超声是诊断孕中期完全性子宫破裂的重要方法,可为临床诊断提供依据和参考。     

中孕期胎儿单纯性肾窦分离的超声诊断与预后研究

目的 探讨中孕期胎儿单纯性肾窦分离的程度与预后的关系.方法 对88例超声检查发现的中孕期单纯性肾窦分离胎儿进行跟踪检查,并与晚孕期、出生后随访结果或尸检病理结果进行对比研究.结果 88例胎儿在中孕期有144只肾脏表现为肾窦分离,间距为（4.21±2.66） mm,晚孕期有74只肾脏表现为肾窦分离,间距为（3.68±4.50） mm;中孕期与晚孕期肾窦分离宽度比较差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;中孕期肾窦分离〈10 mm的肾脏中91 2%（124/136）自然恢复正常,≥10 mm的仅有2/8恢复正常（P〈0.01）.结论 中孕期单纯性肾窦分离大多为一过性,肾盂扩张较轻者多可恢复正常,但需要进行随访观察;少数胎儿单纯性肾窦分离虽然较轻但未能恢复正常,应进行超声随访.     

Prenatal diagnosis of isolated unilateral pulmonary agenesis in the second trimester.

Unilateral pulmonary agenesis is a very rare developmental malformation that is often associated with other anomalies including non-immune hydrops. We describe a case of isolated unilateral pulmonary agenesis diagnosed in the second trimester by gray-scale and color Doppler ultrasound.     

Three-dimensional ultrasound findings of spondylocostal dysostosis in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD) is a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by vertebral segmentation and formation defects, and asymmetrical rib anomalies. We describe a case diagnosed during the second trimester of pregnancy with the sonographic features of abnormal alignment of the spine, hemivertebrae in the thoracic spine and kyphoscoliosis. Three-dimensional ultrasound demonstrated a 'fan-like' rib cage with fusion of the ribs. The postmortem findings confirmed the ultrasound findings and were consistent with SCD.