Atypical mediastinal mass in the fetus: a review of the literature.

Objectives: Congenital thoracic masses (CTMs) are suspected in presence of solid or cystic thoracic lesions at ultrasound. The common typical fetal CTMs encompass: hyperechogenic lung lesions such as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM), broncopulmonary sequestration (PS) and congenital high airway obstruction syndrome (CHAOS); less common solid thoracic masses are mediastinal/pericardial tumors as rhabdomyoma and teratoma. The aim of our study is to gather the available evidence on cases of atypical CTMs of difficult classification, for which the diagnosis remains often uncertain.

Regression of Cardiac Rhabdomyomas Producing a Severe Aortic Stenosis: Case Report and Discussion of the Literature.

We describe a case of a voluminous rhabdomyoma (R) detected by fetal echocardiography at 32 weeks' gestation (w.g.) obstructing the left ventricular inflow and aortic outflow tract, with a moderate aortic gradient at birth, not needing immediate surgery.

Recent Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Congenital Heart Defects.

The prenatal assessment of congenital heart defects (CHD) and related fetal and maternal management is very challenging and delicate [...

Prenatal Diagnosis and Postnatal Outcomes of Left Brachiocephalic Vein Abnormalities: Systematic Review.

Abnormalities of the left brachiocephalic vein (LBCVA) are rare and poorly studied prenatally. An association with congenital heart defects (CHD), extracardiac and genetic abnormalities was described. The aim of our study was to estimate the rate and summarize the available evidence concerning prenatal diagnosis, associated anomalies, and outcomes of these anomalies.

Prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects in Pregnancies Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Cohort Study.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Pregnancies obtained by assisted reproductive technology (ART) are associated with an increased risk of complications and congenital anomalies, particularly congenital heart defects (CHDs). Therefore, our aim is to evaluate, retrospectively, the prevalence of CHD in ART pregnancies in our two centers and analyze their characteristics and outcomes.

Methods: Observational study including fetuses conceived by ART referred between June 2011 and September 2020 and undergoing a fetal cardiac ultrasound scan.

Dural Sinus Arteriovenous Malformation in the Fetus. Case Report and Discussion of the Literature.

Sonographic findings of cerebral arteriovenous malformations in the fetus are uncommon and usually regard aneurysm of the Galen vein. Outcome of arteriovenous malformations is usually severe. We report a case of a fetus at 21 weeks' gestation with a rarer arteriovenous malformation, referred to us for echocardiography on account of a suspicious cardiomegaly at obstetrical scan.

Adverse perinatal outcome and placental abnormalities in pregnancies with major fetal congenital heart defects: A retrospective case-control study.

Objective: The placental development has been shown to be compromised in pregnancies affected by fetal congenital heart defects (CHD). This study aimed to investigate the frequency of complications related to utero-placental insufficiency in pregnancies with and without major CHD.

Method: This retrospective case-control study was conducted at a Fetal Echocardiography Center in Milan.

Characteristics and outcomes of fetuses with laterality defects are the current outcomes better? A single center study.

To analyze the more recent outcomes of fetuses with different laterality defects. Out of 1508 fetuses with congenital heart disease (CHD) diagnosed by echocardiography between January 1995 and December 2015, 94 (6.3%) presented abnormal visceroatrial situs: 42 till December 2002 (group 1, analyzed retrospectively) and 52 since then until December 2015 (group 2, analyzed prospectively).

Prenatal Growth in Fetuses with Isolated Cyanotic and Non-Cyanotic Congenital Heart Defects.

Background: Fetal growth may vary significantly in different congenital heart defects (CHDs).

Objectives: To investigate prenatal growth of CHD fetuses and its correlation with classifications based upon expected oxygen delivery to the fetal brain or structural findings.

Methods: Seventy-nine euploid fetuses with isolated CHD were recruited prospectively and categorized by the expected oxygen supply to the brain (low, intermediate, and high) or by the expected arterial mixing considering two categories (cyanotic or non-cyanotic).

Congenital heart defects in IVF/ICSI pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: There is no consensus in current practice guidelines on whether conception by in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) techniques is an indication for performing a fetal echocardiogram. The aim of the study was to assess whether congenital heart defects (CHD) occur more often in pregnancies conceived after IVF/ICSI as compared with those conceived spontaneously.

Methods: A systematic search for studies was conducted of PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus from inception to September 2017.

Fetal hemodynamic response to aortic valvuloplasty and postnatal outcome: a European multicenter study.

Objective: Fetal aortic stenosis may progress to hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Fetal valvuloplasty (FV) has been proposed to improve left heart hemodynamics and maintain biventricular (BV) circulation. The aim of this study was to assess FV efficacy by comparing survival and postnatal circulation between fetuses that underwent FV and those that did not.

Treatment of right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction: a multimodality approach.

The right timing to replace the pulmonary valve in a patient with dysfunction of the right ventricular outflow tract is unknown. Both percutaneous pulmonary valve and surgical prosthesis are suitable options. In every patient, the right ventricle (RV) remodels and recovers differently after pulmonary replacement.

Natural history of 107 cases of fetal aortic stenosis from a European multicenter retrospective study.

Objectives: Fetal aortic valvuloplasty (FV) aims to prevent fetal aortic valve stenosis progressing into hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), which results in postnatal univentricular (UV) circulation. Despite increasing numbers of FVs performed worldwide, the natural history of the disease in fetal life remains poorly defined. The primary aim of this study was to describe the natural history of fetal aortic stenosis, and a secondary aim was to test previously published criteria designed to identify cases of emerging HLHS with the potential for a biventricular (BV) outcome after FV.

Changed outcomes of fetuses with congenital heart disease: new Italian Multicentre study.

Objectives: To analyse the outcomes of fetuses with congenital heart disease between 2000 and 2005 in comparison to a previous multicentre study regarding the period 1983-1996.

Participants And Methods: Data of seven centres were prospectively collected, the inclusion criteria being a confirmed fetal diagnosis after birth or at autopsy and a known follow-up, for at least 6 months after birth. Data of 649 fetuses, median age at diagnosis 24 weeks' gestation (15-37), 340/649 (52.

Postmortem microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) of small fetuses and hearts.

Objective: To assess the feasibility and utility of contrast-enhanced microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) for identifying structural anomalies in ex-vivo first- and second-trimester human fetuses and isolated fetal hearts.

Methods: Radiopaque iodine staining and micro-CT scanning protocols were first developed in rodent studies and then used to examine routinely fixed whole human fetuses (n = 7, weight 0.1-90 g, gestational age, 7-17 weeks) and isolated fetal hearts (n = 14, weight 0.

Heart failure in pregnant women with cardiac disease: data from the ROPAC.

Objective: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most important complications in pregnant women with heart disease, causing maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity.

Methods: This is an international observational registry of patients with structural heart disease during pregnancy. Sixty hospitals in 28 countries enrolled 1321 women between 2007 and 2011.

Unusual aortic valve anomaly in the fetus: a case report.

Aortic valve anomalies in fetal life usually concern aortic valve stenosis, in severe forms associated to left ventricular impairment - endocardial fibroelastosis and mitral valve insufficiency. Isolated aortic regurgitation in utero is infrequent and is usually considered to be due to a rare anomaly: aorto-left ventricular tunnel. We describe an unusual case of fetal aortic valve anomaly with severe dysplasia, with a marked regurgitant flow through the aortic valve, passing in a retrograde way from the duct, associated with a marked left ventricular endocardial fibroelastosis and dysfunction, resulting in the fatal outcome of the case.

Cor triatriatum dexter: unusual features in utero and after birth.

Cor triatriatum dexter is a rare congenital anomaly, caused by the persistence of the right valve of the sinus venosus, which divides the right atrium into two chambers and its diagnosis is rather difficult, due to the features often mimicking Ebstein's anomaly. We describe a case followed from the foetal age for a relative right ventricular hypoplasia and suspicious pulmonary stenosis and diagnosed after birth to have cor triatriatum dexter with an obstructing membrane in the right atrium, needing surgical correction, done successfully.

Autoptic and echocardiographic findings in seven foetuses with congenital heart anomalies, lung lobation defects and normal visceroatrial arrangement.

Objectives: Congenital heart defects may be associated with various extracardiac and chromosomal anomalies, and complex cardiac defects may occur in the presence of heterotaxy syndromes, in which both lungs are bilobate, in left isomerism, or both trilobate, in right isomerism. Lung lobation defects are otherwise very rare. Lung lobation is recognisable only at autopsy; however, its definition is fundamental for evaluation of the visceroatrial arrangement, together with other characteristic signs.

Recurrence of congenital heart disease in cases with familial risk screened prenatally by echocardiography.

Objectives: To evaluate the recurrence of congenital heart disease (CHD) in pregnant women with familial risk who had been referred for fetal echocardiography.

Material And Methods: 1634 pregnancies from 1483 women with familial history of CHD in one or more relatives were studied. Fetal cardiologic diagnosis was compared with postnatal findings at 6 months or at autopsy.

Features and outcomes in utero and after birth of fetuses with myocardial disease.

Objectives. Ninety-one fetuses with dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (DCM, HCM) and myocarditis were studied. Results.

Massive myocardial infarction in a full-term newborn: a case report.

A full-term female newborn with neonatal asphyxia and severe anemia (Hb 2.5 g/dL) with normal heart developed a massive myocardial infarction. No examinations were performed during pregnancy for parental nomadism.