Foramen oval restrictivo intraútero: causa de hipertensión pulmonar neonatal / Intrauterine restrictive foramen ovale: cause of neonatal pulmonary hypertension

El cierre prematuro del foramen oval o foramen oval restrictivo intraútero es una entidad rara de etiología desconocida. Dicha patología se asocia a un riesgo elevado de hipertensión pulmonar y puede ocasionar insuficiencia cardíaca congestiva con hidrops y muerte fetal. También, se puede asociar con disfunción diastólica en el período neonatal. Se presenta a un recién nacido en el que, en una ecografía prenatal, se visualizó un aumento de las cavidades derechas. En el ecocardiograma posnatal, se confirmó la dilatación de las cavidades derechas con hipertensión pulmonar en rango sistémico y septo interauricular inmóvil con foramen oval cerrado. A los 9 días, ante la persistencia de dificultad respiratoria, se realizó un ecocardiograma, con mejoría de la hipertensión pulmonar, pero con disfunción sistólica biventricular leve y diastólica del ventrículo izquierdo con edema pulmonar. Se indicó el tratamiento diurético, con normalización de la función ventricular.

Premature closure of the foramen ovale (FO) or intrauterine restrictive FO is a rare entity of unknown etiology. This pathology is associated with an elevated risk of pulmonary hypertension, which can cause congestive heart failure with hydrops and fetal death. Patients with restrictive intrauterine FO may develop left ventricle diastolic dysfunction and pulmonary edema. A newborn with increased right cavities in the prenatal ultrasound is presented. In postnatal echocardiogram, dilatation of right cavities was confirmed with pulmonary hypertension in the systemic range and immobile interatrial septum with closed FO. After 9 days of persistent respiratory distress, an echocardiogram was performed with improvement of pulmonary hypertension but with mild biventricular and diastolic and systolic dysfunction of the left ventricle with pulmonary edema. Diuretic treatment was decided, with normalization of ventricular function.

Echocardiographic features and outcome of restrictive foramen ovale in fetuses without cardiac malformations / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of restrictive foramen ovale ( RFO ) monitored by fetal echocardiography during the middle to late stage of pregnancy . Methods The detection rate ,echocardiographic features and outcome in fetuses with RFO without cardiac malformations from 7319 pregnant women received prenatal echocardiography were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed . Results RFO was found in 40 of 7319 (0 .55％ ) fetuses . The inclusion criteria including a narrow right to left shunt of less than 2 .5 mm in diameter across atrial septum , enlarged right atrium , increased right-to-left ventricular size ratio ,and increased size ratio of main pulmonary artery to aorta were present in 40 fetuses . The direct ultrasound characters of RFO included limited opening of oval valve ( 70％ ) and foramen ovale diameter less than 2 .5 mm (30％ ) . And atrial septal aneurysm ( 62 .5％ ) ,redundant primum atrial septum (57 .5％ ) ,abnormal ductus arteriosus ( 57 .5％ ) might also be present commonly in RFO . As the gestational weeks increased , the size ratio of right-to-left atrium , right-to-left ventricle and the main pulmonary artery to aorta also increased significantly( P =0 .004 , P <0 .001 , P <0 .001) . Among the 40 fetuses with RFO ,21 cases ( 52 .5％ ) gave birth in full term ,8 cases ( 20％ ) which were detected severe tricuspid regurgitation gave birth in early cesarean section ,5 cases ( 12 .5％ ) had induced labor and 6 cases (15％ ) were lost in the follow-up . Of the 29 newborns ,only 1 case died of heart failure ,and the other 28 subjects recovered both from heart structure or cardiac function within four months . Conclusions RFOwithout cardiac malformations presents echocardiographic features characterized by a narrow right to left shunt of less than 2 .5 mm in diameter across atrial septum . Fetal echocardiography can monitor the dynamic change of fetal heart structure and function based on the increase of right heart load and decrease of left heart volume ,which has important clinical significance for assessing fetal intrauterine condition and prognosis .