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Objective To investigate the value of standardized ultrasound screening in diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease (CHD) during the first trimester. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 8 383 fetuses who received ultrasound screening during the first trimester in the Dongguan Maternal and Child Health Hospital from September 2015 to December 2016. Standardized ultrasound was performed to observe fetal heart position, apical direction, apical four-chamber view, three vessels and trachea view and the thickness of nuchal translucency (NT). Fetuses with thickened NT or fetal CHD observed during the first and second trimester were followed up. Pregnancy outcomes and the growth of newborns within one year after birth were recorded and analyzed. Pathological results after the termination of pregnancy were compared with the results of routine karyotyping and chromosome microarray analysis (CMA). Results (1) A total of 27 cases of fetal CHD were identified during the first trimester giving a detection rate of 0.32% (27/8 383). These included ten (37.0%) of single atrium and/or single ventricle, seven (25.9%) of endocardial cushion defect (including two complicated by persistent arterial trunk), three (11.1%) of hypoplastic right heart syndrome, three (11.1%) of interventricular septal defect, two (7.4%) of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one (3.7%) of mirror-image dextrocardia and one (3.7%) of right atrial enlargement and severe tricuspid regurgitation. Nineteen out of the 27 cases had NT thickening (NT≥3.0 mm) and 17 of them had a cystic hygroma (NT≥6.0 mm). Among the 27 cases, 22 were terminated in the first trimester which autopsy results were consistent with ultrasound and the other five were rescreened during the second trimester. Thirteen out of the 27 cases received chorionic villus sampling, and seven of them were found to have chromosomal abnormalities by karyotyping and CMA, among whom one was microdeletion of 22q11. (2) Twenty-one cases of CHD were detected in the second-trimester ultrasound screening, including five initially identified in the first trimester. These cases included four (19.0%) of complex cardiac malformations (with three or more malformations), four (19.0%) of interventricular septal defect, three (14.3%) of dextroaortic arch, left subclavian artery vagus and 'U' shaped vascular ring, three (14.3%) of hypoplastic right heart syndrome (including one complicated by coronary artery-right ventricular fistula and one by interventricular septal defect), two (9.5%) of transposition of the great arteries, two (9.5%) of tetralogy of Fallot, one (4.8%) of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one (4.8%) of Taussig-Bing anomaly and one (4.8%) of coarctation of the aorta. Among the 16 cases first identified in the second trimester, eight had NT thickening, including one with cystic hygroma. Among the 21 cases, two were lost to follow-up after being transferred to another hospital; four with negative results in karyotype analysis and CMA were delivered vaginally at term (37-40 gestational weeks) with 1-min Apgar scores of ten points and postpartum ultrasound of the baby was consistent with the second-trimester ultrasound screening; 15 were terminated and the autopsy confirmed those findings in the second-trimester ultrasound screening. Eleven out of the 21 cases received amniocentesis and five of them were found to be abnormal according to karyotype analysis and CMA, including one of microdeletion of 22q11. Conclusions Standardized first-trimester ultrasound screening is important and of great clinical value in the diagnosis of fetal CHD. Increased NT thickness could be a key indicator of fetal CHD and chromosomal abnormalities in early pregnancy. CMA may facilitate detecting the abnormality of genetic material in fetuses with normal chromosome karyotype.
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Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of ultrasonography for structural examination in the diagnosis of fetal brain malformation and neural tube defects ( NTDs ) in early pregnancy . Methods A retrospective study was conducted to analyse 6 630 cases taking obstetric examination in Dongguan Maternal and Child Health Hospital from February 2014 to June 2015. The examination included a standardized ultrasound structural examination at 11-13 plus 6 weeks of pregnancy. The autopsied results of the induced fetus in early pregnancy from craniocerebral and neural tube structure malformation were investigated. All the cases were followed up concerning the outcomes and the malformation detection rate was calculated for analysis. Results The detection rates of exencephalus and anencephalus, holoprosencephaly, aphylly-holoprosencephaly, rachischisis, open spina bifida, and meningocele were 100%, 80%, 100%, 42.9%, 50% and 100%, respectively. The malformations which was missed in the early pregnancy but detected in the later gestational ages included:Dandy-Walker Syndrome, most of the non-open spina bifida, hypoplasia of the corpus callosum, foliaceous-holoprosencephaly and ventriculomegaly. Conclusions The structural examination using ultrasonography at early pregnancy is effective in the detection of severe open-neural tube defects. It′s worth generalizing in the cliical diagnosis but part of fetal malformations still need a further ultrasound examination in the mid-gestation or the later gestation.