Evaluation of the sphericity index of the fetal heart during middle and late pregnancy using fetalHQ. (12th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luo, Yingchun; Xiao, Fang; Long, Can; Kuang, Haiyan; Jiang, Meiping; Zhou, Cheng; Cui, Qi; Ye, Yamei; Zhang, Shuai; Zhang, Meixiang
• Is Part Of: Journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine. Volume 35:Number 25(2022)
• Page Start: 8006
• Page End: 8011
• Publication Date: 2022-12-12
• Subjects: Fetal heart -- fetalHQ -- sphericity index; Obstetrics -- Periodicals; Perinatology -- Periodicals; Infants (Newborn) -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Neonatology -- Periodicals; 618.2
• DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2021.1940934
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-7058

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To explore the feasibility of the fetal heart quantitative technique (fetalHQ) for evaluating the sphericity index (SI) of the fetal heart during middle and late pregnancy. Methods: Ninety-six normal fetuses in middle and late gestation who underwent systemic ultrasound examination in the Department of Ultrasound of the Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Hunan Province in November 2020 were enrolled, and dynamic images of the four-chamber view of the fetal heart were collected. The correlation between the global sphericity index (GSI), ventricular 24-segment SI, and gestational age (GA) was analyzed, and the differences between the left and right ventricular 24-segment SI were compared. Results: The success rate of fetalHQ analysis was 93.75%. There was no significant linear correlation between GSI and ventricular 24-segment SI and GA (all p s > .05). The differences in SI between segments 1 and 9 and 15 and 24 in the left and right ventricles were statistically significant (all p s < .05), while the differences in SI between segments 10 and 14 were not statistically significant (all p s > .05). In segments 1–9, the SI of the right ventricle was smaller than that of the left ventricle, indicating that the right ventricle was significantly more spherical than the left ventricle. In segments 15–24, the opposite was true. Conclusion: FetalHQ is a simple and reliable method for evaluating the GSI and 24-segment SI of the left and right ventricles. It can provide some theoretical basis for the clinical quantitative evaluation of fetal heart geometry and lay a foundation for the quantitative evaluation of fetal heart function in cases of structural and functional abnormalities.