Prenatal Detection of Congenital Heart Disease: the Past, Present, and Future

AbstractPurpose of reviewPrenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) is continuously evolving with each passing decade. Early efforts in fetal cardiology focused on identifying CHD in mid-gestation and understanding of fetal circulation in pathologic conditions. Improving prenatal detection rates for CHD remains an ongoing challenge and increasingly the field of fetal cardiology is moving to not only diagnosing CHD prenatally but also assessing the impact of prenatal diagnosis of CHD outcomes. Future directions include earlier diagnosis of fetal CHD, improved diagnostic rates, widespread sonographer education, and a better understanding of antenatal factors that impact outcomes. Our goal in this review is to describe the past, present, and future of prenatal diagnosis of CHD.Recent findingsThere has been a steady improvement in the prenatal diagnosis rate for CHD; however, there remains a significant variation between countries and within the USA. Prenatal diagnosis of CHD allows for counseling and delivery planning in those fetuses with critical CHD, thereby providing parents with resources and important tools while dealing with a challenging situation of carrying a child with heart disease and helping them with important decisions for their family and their future. There are several specific conditions which continue to pose a challenge from a diagnostic standpoint as they may appear mild at the time of initial diagnosis and may be missed but progress through the p...
Source: Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research