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Aetiology of non‐immune hydrops: the value of echocardiography
Author(s) -
ALLAN LINDSEY D.,
CRAWFORD DIANE C.,
SHERIDAN RICHARD,
CHAPMAN MICHAEL G.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1986.tb07897.x
Subject(s) - etiology , hydrops fetalis , medicine , fetus , cardiology , pregnancy , heart disease , fetal echocardiography , prenatal diagnosis , biology , genetics
Summary. Forty‐eight pregnancies, five of them multiple, were referred for fetal cardiac assessment following the detection of non‐immune hydrops fetalis; there were 52 hydropic fetuses in total. A cardiovascular aetiology was found in 21 of these 52 (40%); structural heart disease was present in 13, tachyarrhythmia in the remaining eight. The accurate delineation of these causes was possible using fetal echo‐cardiography, and enabled rational management to be instituted. This included termination of pregnancy, pharmacological control of arrhythmias and appropriate timing of delivery.