Utilizing Fetal Echocardiography to Risk Stratify and Predict Neonatal Outcomes in Fetuses Diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease.

Objective:  Risk stratification of fetuses diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) helps provide a delivery plan and prepare families and medical teams on expected course in the delivery room. Our aim was to assess the accuracy of echocardiographically determined risk-stratification assignments in predicting postnatal cardiac outcomes beyond the delivery room.

Study Design:  This was a retrospective study at a single center evaluating all fetuses with CHD who were risk-stratified by echocardiographically determined level of care (LOC) assignment, ranging from 1a (lowest risk) to 4 (highest risk).

Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease: The Crucial Role of Perinatal and Delivery Planning.

Although most congenital heart defects (CHDs) are asymptomatic at birth, certain CHD lesions are at significant risk of severe hemodynamic instability and death if emergent cardiac interventions are not performed in a timely fashion. Therefore, accurate identification of at-risk fetuses and appropriate delivery resource planning according to the degree of anticipated hemodynamic instability is crucial. Fetal echocardiography has increased prenatal CHD detection in recent years due to advancements in ultrasound techniques and improved obstetrical cardiac screening protocols, enabling the prediction of newborns' hemodynamic status.

Anatomical and physiological diagnostic discrepancies in fetuses with single-ventricle congenital heart disease in a contemporary cohort.

Objective: Image quality of fetal echocardiography (FE) has improved in the recent era, but few recent studies have reported the accuracy of FE, specifically in single ventricle (SV) congenital heart disease (CHD). This study aimed to assess the ability of FE to correctly predict SV-CHD postnatal anatomy and physiology in a contemporary cohort.

Methods: The contemporary clinical reports of patients with SV-CHD, in which FE was performed between July 2017 and July 2021, were compared with postnatal echocardiograms from a formal quality assurance program.

Prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in obstructive sleep apnea and its relation to disease severity.

Study Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension (PHTN) in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) using echocardiographic (ECHO) parameters and to examine ECHO findings as they relate to severity of OSA.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients with OSA undergoing polysomnogram and ECHO within 30 days of each other, between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020, was performed, excluding cardiac disease. ECHO evidence of PHTN was defined as ≥ 2 of the following: tricuspid regurgitation velocity > 3.