Fetal Cardiac Function and Ventricular Volumes Determined by Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Using STIC and VOCAL Methods in Fetuses from Pre-gestational Diabetic Women

AbstractTo assess the fetal cardiac function and ventricular volumes by three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound using spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) and virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) methods in fetuses from pre-gestational diabetic women. This was a prospective and cross-sectional study that evaluated 53 fetuses from pre-gestational diabetic women and 53 fetuses from healthy mothers between 20 and 34  weeks of gestation. Only fetuses with no structural or genetic abnormalities and singleton pregnant women were included in this study. The fetal cardiac volumes were assessed by STIC and VOCAL methods. The ejection fraction, stroke volume, and cardiac output were calculated from these measurements to evaluate fetal cardiac function. The Mann–WhitneyU test was performed to compare the two groups. For calculation of intra- and interobserver reproducibility ’s, we used concordance correlation coefficients. The mean differences in the right atrial volumes between the diabetic and normal groups ranged from 0.05 mL to 0.1 mL (p = 0.917 and 0.355, respectively). The median of left atrium (LA) volume measurement in pre-gestational diabetic group was significantly lower than healthy mothers (LA: 0.62 vs. 0.68 mL;p <  0.001). The fetal right and left ventricular volumes were similar in both groups. No significant differences in ejection fraction, stroke volume and cardiac output were observed (p value range 0.086 –0.815). The majority of fetal atri...
Source: Mammalian Genome - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research