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A brief history of fetal echocardiography and its impact on the management of congenital heart disease
Author(s) -
Maulik Dev,
Nanda Navin C.,
Maulik Devika,
Vilchez Gustavo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/echo.13713
Subject(s) - fetal echocardiography , medicine , modalities , heart disease , doppler echocardiography , fetus , disease , cardiology , radiology , prenatal diagnosis , intensive care medicine , pregnancy , blood pressure , social science , genetics , sociology , diastole , biology
Congenital heart disease ( CHD ), the most common congenital malformation, is associated with adverse outcome. Development of fetal echocardiography has made prenatal diagnosis of CHD a reality, and in the process revolutionized its management. This historical review briefly narrates this development over the decades focusing on the emergence of the primary modalities of fetal echocardiography comprised of the time‐motion mode, two‐dimensional B‐mode, spectral Doppler, color Doppler, and three‐ and four‐dimensional cardiac imaging. Collaboration between clinicians and engineers has been central to these advances. Also discussed are the accuracy and impact of fetal echocardiography on the management of CHD , and especially its role in the prenatal diagnosis of critical CHD in individualizing the management and improving the outcome. Despite these advances, most cases of CHD are not identified prenatally, emphasizing the continuing need for further technological and educational innovation and improvement.