Reproducibility Analysis of Two Speckle Tracking Software for the Antenatal Semiautomated Assessment of the Fetal Cardiac Function.

Introduction: Speckle tracking echocardiography is a non-Doppler modality allowing the semiautomated evaluation of the fetal cardiac function by tracking the speckles of the endocardial borders. Little evidence is available on the evaluation and comparison of different software for the functional assessment of the fetal heart by means of speckle tracking echocardiography. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility and agreement of two different proprietary speckle tracking software for the prenatal semiautomated assessment of the fetal cardiac function.

Time of isolation, education and gender influence the psychological outcome during COVID-19 lockdown in caregivers of patients with dementia.

Purpose: The study evaluated the effects of the COVID-19 emergency lockdown on the psychological outcome in caregivers (children or spouses) of patients with dementia and the loss of the welfare services in these patients.

Methods: Zung's depression and anxiety assessment scales and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered by a telephone interview or a self-compilation directly on the online platform.

Results: The sample consisted of 239 participants (men = 124; women = 115) with a mean age of 54.