Klinische und experimentelle Kardiologie
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The New Challenge of Prenatal Diagnosis: The Assessment of Fetal Heart Function

Lorenzo Vasciaveo*, Anna Lucia Mastricci, Erika Zanzarelli, Luigi Nappi

Advances in prenatal imaging techniques have allowed a more comprehensive assessment of fetal anatomy, improving the detection rate of congenital anomalies. Evaluation of the fetal heart during the anomaly scan is very important. In particular, detailed fetal echocardiography is necessary in case of suspect cardiac structural abnormality at the time of screening, suspected or confirmed extracardiac abnormalities or increased nuchal translucency.

The new challenge of prenatal diagnosis is to understand the adaptation mechanism of the fetus to pathological conditions, like Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR), preeclampsia, diabetes, infections or malformations, and to study outcomes in the short and long time. For a long time we investigated peripheral vascular structures using Doppler velocimetry to better understand different maternal fetal pathologies. Today we are trying to understand “HOW” the fetal cardiovascular system "adapts" to pathogenic noxa.