Catheter-Based Fetal Cardiac Interventions

• Published in: Journal of cardiovascular development and disease Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 167
• Main Authors: Yilmaz Furtun, Betul, Morris, Shaine Alaine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 29.05.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Aortic stenosis; Aortic valve stenosis; catheter-based intervention; Catheters; Congenital diseases; Congenital heart disease; Coronary vessels; critical congenital heart disease; Development and progression; fetal cardiac intervention; Fetuses; Heart surgery; Hemodynamics; Intervention; Pulmonary arteries; Review; Standard scores; Ultrasonic imaging; catheter-based intervention; critical congenital heart disease; fetal cardiac intervention
• ISSN: 2308-3425; 2308-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/jcdd11060167

Fetal cardiac intervention (FCI) is an emerging and rapidly advancing group of interventions designed to improve outcomes for fetuses with cardiovascular disease. Currently, FCI is comprised of pharmacologic therapies (e.g., trans-placental antiarrhythmics for fetal arrhythmia), open surgical procedures (e.g., surgical resection of pericardial teratoma), and catheter-based procedures (e.g., fetal aortic valvuloplasty for aortic stenosis). This review focuses on the rationale, criteria for inclusion, technical details, and current outcomes of the three most frequently performed catheter-based FCI procedures: (1) aortic valvuloplasty for critical aortic stenosis (AS) associated with evolving hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), (2) atrial septal intervention for HLHS with severely restrictive or intact atrial septum (R/IAS), and (3) pulmonary valvuloplasty for pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA/IVS).