Why the study?
Does fetal echocardiography identify cardiovascular aetiologies in fetuses with non-immune hydrops?
Does fetal echocardiography identify cardiovascular aetiologies in fetuses with non-immune hydrops?
Fetal echocardiography is valuable in identifying cardiovascular causes of non-immune hydrops fetalis, which account for a significant proportion of cases and guide clinical management.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports targeted fetal echocardiography in non-immune hydrops; leaves open the need for prospective validation before practice change.
Forty-eight pregnancies, five of them multiple, were referred for fetal cardiac assessment following the detection of non-immune hydrops fetalis; there were 52 hydropic fetuses in total. A cardiovascular aetiology was found in 21 of these 52 (40%); structural heart disease was present in 13, tachyarrhythmia in the remaining eight. The accurate delineation of these causes was possible using fetal echocardiography, and enabled rational management to be instituted. This included termination of pregnancy, pharmacological control of arrhythmias and appropriate timing of delivery.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Allan et al. (1986) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: