OBJECTIVE To evaluate fetal cardiac ventricular disproportion as a marker of cardiac anomalies. METHODS A retrospective case series included data from all patients who had a fetus diagnosed subjectively with ventricular disproportion by routine obstetric ultrasonography between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2013 at a single tertiary center in the USA. Fetal and neonatal echocardiography, a...

The determination of ventricular volumes in the fetal heart from two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) may give a better estimate of fetal ventricular size than simple diameter measurements, but the accuracy of this method has not been established. In fetal lambs, we tested whether ventricular volume calculations from 2DE using a biplane Simpson's rule algorithm are accurate. Calculations of l...

Anthracyclines are used to treat cancers during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. The chemotherapeutic effect of anthracyclines is associated with a dose- and time-dependent cardiotoxicity that is well described for infants and adults. However, data regarding fetal anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity after administration of chemotherapeutics during pregnancy are limited. In this stu...

Nppa, encoding atrial natriuretic factor, is expressed in fetal atrial and ventricular myocardium and is downregulated in the ventricles after birth. During hypertrophy and heart failure, Nppa expression is reactivated in the ventricles and serves as a highly conserved marker of heart disease. The Nppa promoter has become a frequently used model to study mechanisms of cardiac gene regulation. N...

Background: There is limited literature written on the course and outcomes for pregnant mothers with Shone complex. Methods: We describe a case series of five pregnancies in four women complex within multidisciplinary cardio-obstetrics clinic from 2016–2018. Results: Maternal age ranged 21–39 years. Three patients had preserved left ventricular function while one moderately decreased function. ...

Background: Assessment of myocardial function is essential in heart disease, but in regard to systolic and diastolic functions such evaluation has limitation. Ejection fraction is difficult to assess in abnormally-shaped ventricles, and diastolic inflow velocity pattern may be fused because of tachycardia. Objective: A myocardial performance index (MPI) or Tei index has been developed for adult...

Alternative methods to assess ventricular diastolic function in the fetus are proposed. Fetal myocardial hypertrophy in maternal diabetes was used as a model of decreased left ventricular compliance (LVC), and fetal respiratory movements as a model of increased LVC. Comparison of three groups of fetuses showed that, in 10 fetuses of diabetic mothers (FDM) with septal hypertrophy (SH), the mean ...