Assessment of diastolic ventricular function in fetuses of diabetic mothers using tissue Doppler.

Objective: To identify the presence of ventricular diastolic dysfunction by tissue Doppler in fetuses of diabetic mothers, with or without septal hypertrophy, in comparison to fetuses of nondiabetic mothers.

Methods: A contemporary transverse study in fetuses with a gestational age between 25 weeks to term, studying diastolic function by assessment using tissue Doppler and pulsed wave Doppler of the atrioventricular diastolic flow. The mothers of the fetuses all had previous or gestational diabetes, and were referred to the Fetal Cardiology Unit of the Institute of Cardiology in Porto Alegre, Brazil.