Application of fetal heart quantitative technique in evaluation of fetal heart morphology and function / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Forty eight singleton normal fetuses underwent two-dimensional echocardiography with fetal heart quantitative technique (fetal HQ) in People′s Hospital of Wuhan University on September 2019. Fetal ventricular intima was successfully tracked by fetal HQ software in 45 cases; the length, transverse width, area, and global spherical index(GSI) of four-chamber view were measured with fetal HQ, meanwhile the dynamic tracking curve of ventricular intima was obtained. The left (right) ventricular global strain (GS), fetal area change (FAC), left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and 24 segment end diastolic diameter (ED), short-axis shortening (FS), spherical index (SI) were calculated. Fetal heart shape and size and cardiac function parameters, as well as z-score of each parameter after adjustment for gestational age, were obtained successfully. The length, transverse width and area were linearly correlated with gestational age, while other parameters and their Z scores were not significantly correlated with gestational age. Z score of measured values of each parameter fell within the normal range of -2<Z <+2. All measurements of repeatability test were within the consistency limit range. It is suggest that fetal HQ can obtain multiple evaluation indexes easily and reliably, and has good reproducibility, which provides a useful tool for quantitative evaluation of fetal heart shape, size and function.