Prenatal diagnosis of aortic arch malformation using tomographic ultrasound imaging / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the value of spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) with tomographic ultrasound imaging (TUI) technique in diagnosis of fetal aortic arch malformation. Methods: Ultrasonic data of 45 fetuses diagnosed as aortic arch malformation were reviewed retrospectively. Three-vessel and trachea view of 2D echocardiography (2DE) were used to analyze the aortic arch position in relation to the trachea, and to find the aberrant brachiocephalic arteries. Volume data were obtained, and TUI reconstruction was used to form transverse and coronal TUI slices to observe the arch position, the aberrant left or right subclavian arteries, the origin and convergence of bilateral aortic arches. Results: Totally 5 fetuses of double aortic arch, 9 fetuses of left aortic arch with aberrant right subclavian arteries and 31 fetuses of right aortic arch were included. The accuracy rate of STIC-TUI in diagnosis of fetal aortic arch anomalies was significantly higher than that of 2DE (97.78% [44/45] vs 71.11% [32/45]; P<0.01). Conclusion: Fetal aortic arch malformation can be accurately diagnosed using STIC-TUI, which can be widely used with standardized post-analysis in the future.