Fetal echocardiography at 11-13 weeks of pregnancy

This is a transvaginal ultrasound video clip demonstrating examination of the fetal heart (echocardiography) at 13 weeks' gestation.

Major cardiac defects are responsible for about 50% of deaths in neonates and infants from all congenital abnormalities. It is therefore important to identify such defects as early in pregnancy as possible.

Early pregnancy echocardiography, performed at 11- 13 weeks' gestation, is used for screening and diagnosis of congenital heart defects. This is particularly important in the management of fetuses with increased nuchal translucency (NT) thickness.

Other indications include for early echocardiography include family history of congenital heart defects, detection of extracardiac defects, such as exomphalos or diaphragmatic hernia and the abnormal Doppler findings of reversed a-wave in the ductus venosus and tricuspid regurgitation.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• fetal
• echocardiography
• echo
• heart
• fetus
• increased
• nuchal
• translucency
• anomalies
• transvaginal
• ultrasound
• early
• anomaly
• scan
• pregnancy
• 11
• 12
• 13
• weeks
• gestation
• first
• trimester
• cardiology
• cardiac
• CHD