Abstract
In utero M-mode echocardiographic (echo) studies were used to evaluate the cardiac anatomy and function of 30 human fetuses between 25 and 41 weeks gestation. Real-time scanning of the maternal abdomen, performed during routine evaluation of “high-risk” pregnancies, was used to locate the position of the fetal heart. Mitral-aortic and septal-aortic fibrous continuity and the spatial relationships of cardiac valves could be demonstrated in all. Ventricular ejection times could be measured directly from semilunar valve echograms. Left ventricular (LV) ejection times were equal to ejection times in premature infants born at similar gestational ages (208± 30 msec). In 3 fetuses in which LV and right ventricular (RV) ejection times could be measured simultaneously these values were equal.Abnormal mitral valve motion enabled us to diagnose congenital complete heart block in the bradycardic 28 week fetus of a mother suspected of having systemic lupus erythematosis. The ventricular septum and LV posterior wall were visualized in 19 of the 30 fetuses. Septal motion was “normal” in 4 and “paradoxical” in 15 (“type A” in 11; “type B” in 4). The latter finding suggests that human fetal flow patterns are characterized by a “dominant” RV, and is consistent with in utero flow data in fetal lambs showing 2/3 of combined ventricular output to be ejected by the RV. In utero echo studies are feasible and offer a noninvasive method of physiologic and anatomic evaluation of the heart of the human fetus.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kleinman, C., Hobbins, J., Creighton, D. et al. 189 ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF THE DEVELOPING HUMAN FETUS. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 395 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00194
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00194