[Assessment of the right ventricle function of fetus by spatio-temporal image correlation]

To evaluate the superiority, feasibility and clinical signifi cance of the four-dimensional spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) in detection of the right ventricle function of fetus.

Th e STIC dynamic images of 180 normal fetal hearts at 24+0 to 37+6 weeks of gestation were obtained by the three-dimensional (3D) probe. Th e post-process evaluation was done off -line with the virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) software. The computer recorded the right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), right ventricular end-systolic volume (RVESV), and then calculated the right stroke volume (RSV), the right cardiac output (RCO) and the right ejection fraction (REF). RCO was standardized by biometric measurements obtained at prenatal screening, including head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length (FL) and estimated fetal weight (EFW).

The overall successful rate in image acquisition was 83.89% and the repeatability was favorable. After the standardization of fetal biometric parameters (HC, AC, FL) and the right ventricle function indexes (RVEDV, RVESV, RSV), RCO was increased with the gestational age while the REF and RCO/EFW fluctuated within a certain range.

STIC technique can accurately and objectively measure the fetal ventricular volume and it might be a potential strategy in the clinical assessment of the fetal cardiac function.