[Clinical study of fetal echocardiography]

Fetal echocardiography was studied by PUMC Hospital Xi' an and Harbin Medical University in collaboration. 320 fetuses were examined with M-mode. 2D and pulsed Doppler echocardiograph during one year. 7 cases of congenital heart disease were found including four ASD, one VSD, one complex deformity (single atrium, left ventricle undeveloped and pulmonary arteria) and one heart tumor (rhabdomyoma). Normal fetal echocardiographic and Doppler parameters were detected in 313 normal fetuses. The characteristic of abnormal fetal echo are: (1) The diameter of the arterial and ventricular chambers increased with increasing fetal age. (2) Fetal RV/LV = 1.1, RA greater than or equal to LA. (3) The thickness of the RV free wall is same as that of the LV free wall and septum. The fetal Doppler echo revealed: (1) The peak velocity of pulmonary artery in the early systole. (2) Peak A/Peak E greater than 1 in mitral and tricuspid valves Doppler spectra. The characteristic of fetal echocardiography consists of prominence of the right ventricle and high pulmonary pressure in the fetus.