Role of Tomographic Ultrasound Imaging With Spatiotemporal Image Correlation for Identifying Fetal Ventricular Septal Defects

• Published in: Journal of ultrasound in medicine Vol. 27; no. 7; pp. 1071 - 1075
• Main Authors: Rizzo, Giuseppe, Capponi, Alessandra, Vendola, Marianne, Pietrolucci, Maria Elena, Arduini, Domenico
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Am inst Ulrrasound Med 01.07.2008; American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
• Subjects: 4-dimensional sonography; congenital heart diseases; Echocardiography, Doppler, Color - methods; Echocardiography, Four-Dimensional - methods; Female; Fetal Diseases - diagnosis; fetal echocardiography; Heart Defects, Congenital - diagnosis; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular - diagnosis; Humans; Pregnancy; Prenatal Diagnosis - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; tomographic ultrasound imaging; Tomography - methods; ventricular septal defects
• ISSN: 0278-4297; 1550-9613
• DOI: 10.7863/jum.2008.27.7.1071

Objective. The purpose of this study was to test the possibility of diagnosing ventricular septal defects (VSDs) by using tomographic ultrasound imaging (TUI) on 4‐dimensional volumes of the fetal chest obtained with spatiotemporal image correlation and the color Doppler function. Methods. We retrospectively evaluated the 4‐dimensional spatiotemporal image correlation volumes of 8 fetuses with VSDs (single in 7 and double in 1) between 20 and 33 weeks' gestation. The data were analyzed to determine whether VSDs were correctly identified in at least 1 of 7 automatically generated TUI displays. Results. All of the included VSDs were correctly identified with the use of an interslice distance in the TUI function ranging from 0.8 to 2 mm without the need to further manipulate the volume. Conclusions. This automatic approach shows good retrieval of diagnostic cardiac planes in fetuses with VSDs, which may improve the diagnostic accuracy for this disease.