ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perinatal management and outcome of different types of fetal arrhythmia. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted among the fetuses with arrhythmia identified by M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography in a single institution between October 2003 and December 2010. RESULTS: A total of 130 fetuses were found to have fetal arrhythmia. The most common arrhythmia during pregnancy was extrasystole (n=59), followed by bradycardia (n=23), tachycardia (n=16), atrial flutter (AF, n=3), atrioventricular block (AVB, n=12) and other arrhythmia (n=17). The overall incidence of cardiac anomalies (commonly fetal bradycardia) was 9.2% in these cases. The prognosis of arrhythmia differed significantly between cases of different classifications. The type of fetal arrhythmia (P=0.024), presence of congenital heart defect (CHD, P=0.000) and fetal hydrops (P=0.008) were significant risk factors associated with termination of pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Fetal arrhythmias without CHD or hydrops under close monitoring often have good clinical outcome, while fetal bradycardia is associated with a high mortality rate. CHD and the presence of fetal hydrops are significant risk factors for pregnancy termination.
Subject(s)
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/diagnostic imaging , Fetal Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Adult , Arrhythmias, Cardiac/classification , Female , Heart Defects, Congenital/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Trimester, Second , Pregnancy Trimester, Third , Retrospective Studies , Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color , Ultrasonography, Prenatal , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the value of prenatal ultrasound in the diagnosis of fetal malformations. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 993 cases of neonates and induced babies with malformations who were labored in our hospital from January 1999 to October 2006. RESULTS: The incidence rate of fetal malformation was 22.5 per thousand in our study group. The detection rate of prenatal ultrasound was 79.02% (1 062/1 344), among which the detection rate of the severe malformations (87.58%, 860/982) were significantly higher than that of the minor malformations (55.80%, 202/362) (P < 0.005). The false negative rate was high for the extremity malformations (39.46%) and facial malformations (31.91%), especially the acrosclerodermas, simple cleft palates, and ear deformities. CONCLUSION: Prenatal ultrasound is sensitive for fetal severe malformations, while the detection rate is low for fetal minor malformations.
