Fetal arrhythmias: Surveillance and management

Fetal arrhythmias warrant sophisticated surveillance and management, especially for the high-risk pregnancies. Clinically, fetal arrhythmias can be categorized into 3 types: premature contractions, tachyarrhythmias, and bradyarrhythmias. Fetal arrhythmias include electrocardiography, cardiotocography, echocardiography and magnetocardiography. Oxygen saturation monitoring can be an effective way of fetal surveillance for congenital complete AV block or SVT during labor. Genetic surveillance of fetal arrhythmias may facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms of the arrhythmias and provide theoretical basis for diagnosis and treatment. For fetal benign arrhythmias, usually no treatment but a close follow-up is need, while persistant fetal arrhythmias with congestive heart dysfunction or hydrops fetalis, intrauterine or postnatal treatments are required. The prognoses of fetal arrhythmias depend on the type and severity of fetal arrhythmias and the associated fetal conditions. Responses of fetal arrhythmias to individual treatments and clinical schemes are heterogeneous, and the prognoses are poor particularly under such circumstances.