Key result
Trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography detected congenital heart defects with a sensitivity of 92.8%, specificity of 66.6%, and overall accuracy of 84.1% compared to postnatal echocardiography.
Why the study?
Prenatal diagnosis of fetal cardiac defects enables better monitoring and proper management planning, prompting an assessment of the diagnostic value of fetal echocardiography for detecting congenital heart diseases.
Does trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography accurately detect congenital heart defects in pregnant women undergoing screening compared to postnatal echocardiography?
Cohort (n=234)
No
Does trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography accurately detect congenital heart defects in pregnant women undergoing screening compared to postnatal echocardiography?
Fetal echocardiography is a highly sensitive but moderately specific tool for the prenatal detection of congenital heart defects.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Fetal echocardiography offers high sensitivity but modest specificity for CHDs; leaves open its routine screening role pending prospective validation.
Background: Prenatal diagnosis of cardiac defects in fetus is of paramount importance to enable a better monitoring of heart defects and to allow planning a proper management. We reported our experience on fetal heart echocardiography in a great referral heart center in Iran with the approach to assessment of the diagnostic value of this tool for detecting Congenital Heart Diseases (CHDs). Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 234 pregnant women attended at a great referral heart center in Tehran, Iran between 2012 and 2016 for heart abnormalities screening. All women were evaluated by trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography from 12 weeks of gestation to term and after birth. Results: Fetal echocardiography showed different types of CHDs in 5.9%. CHDs detected in 9.9% of neonates by echocardiography after birth. The most common heart abnormalities detected was VSD in 4.3%. Considering echocardiography findings after birth as the reference, fetal echocardiography had a sensitivity of 92.8%, a specificity of 66.6%, a positive predictive value of 59.8%, a negative predictive value of 86.6%, and an accuracy of 84.1% for detection of heart defects. Conclusion: Fetal heart echocardiography is a sensitive tool for detection of CHDs, but its specificity is moderate.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sadeghian et al. (2023) conducted a cohort in Congenital Heart Defects (n=234). Trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography vs. Postnatal echocardiography was evaluated on Detection of congenital heart defects. Trans-abdominal fetal echocardiography detected congenital heart defects with a sensitivity of 92.8%, specificity of 66.6%, and overall accuracy of 84.1% compared to postnatal echocardiography.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: