The 24-Segment Global Sphericity Index Is Useful for Assessing Fetal Cardiac Function and as an Indicator of Fetal...

Automated technologies have become increasingly vital in fetal cardiac assessment. Fetal heart quantification (HQ), which utilizes two-dimensional speckle tracking, provides quantitative measures of morphology and function. This study aims to identify the progression of many fetal cardiac function parameters during pregnancy in normal pregnant women and to determine which parameters are relevant to fetal well-being and worth considering.

We conducted a prospective observational study involving fetuses of 26 normal pregnant women to evaluate 27 fetal HQ parameters (including strain, sphericity indices, and four-chamber view measurements) across gestation. Factor analysis was used to identify indicators of fetal and neonatal well-being. Additionally, we analyzed a case of fetal growth restriction (FGR) complicated by a double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) and total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).

Four parameters, which were tricuspid valve width, tricuspid valve length, the area of the four-chamber view, and right ventricular end-diastolic area (RVEDA), might be particularly informative. It is possible to perform serial assessments of fetal cardiac contractile development throughout gestation. In cases of FGR with DORV and TAPVC, fetal HQ detected abnormal right ventricular loading and impaired contractility. In cases of FGR with DORV and TAPVC, fetal HQ detected abnormal right ventricular loading and impaired contractility.

Fetal HQ provides a reproducible, quantitative approach to fetal cardiac assessment. These key indices may serve as potential indicators of fetal well-being and facilitate the early detection of cardiac dysfunction in high-risk pregnancies.