Fetal echocardiography: One of the most important tools in fetal diagnosis and assessing wellbeing

Fetal Cardiac Hemodynamic and Sonographic Anomalies in Maternal COVID-19 Infection Depending on Vaccination Status—Polish Multicenter Cohort Study

“…The signs of fetal infection may be subtle and present as intrauterine growth restriction, calcifications of fetal organs, placenta, cord, and membranes and failure to adequately develop fetal fat reserves [ 14 , 17 , 18 ]. Even though diagnosis of the fetal infection must be confirmed by identification of a pathogen by means of microbiological cultures, immunological techniques and special molecular biology techniques, fetal ultrasonography and echocardiography in these cases seem reasonable to monitor the fetal well-being and assess the fetal cardiovascular efficacy [ 19 , 20 ]. So far, SARS-CoV-2 infection has affected pregnant women and the course of pregnancy.…”

Prenatal ultrasound assessment of fetal lung development in normal and complicated by fetal and maternal diseases pregnancy

“…That is why many scientists try to rule out noninvasive methods to reach the same or even better predicting results. For this purpose, fetal echocardiography as widely available tools is used in normal and complicated by fetal and maternal diseases pregnancy to assess proper fetal lung development 2–14 …”

“…In addition, disease severity as presented in the study could be connected with the severity of fetal pulmonary tissue impairment, but no statistical difference was proved. The Authors pertinently hypothesized fetal echocardiography up to now might be the best tool to monitor and predict fetal well‐being and predict neonatal outcome, not only in maternal autoimmune disease but also in different fetal and maternal pathologies 11,12 . Unfortunately, selected fetal pulmonary artery Doppler indices were analyzed only around 30th week of gestation.…”

“…For this purpose, fetal echocardiography as widely available tools is used in normal and complicated by fetal and maternal diseases pregnancy to assess proper fetal lung development. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Fetal respiratory system is directly influenced by the fetal cardiovascular system and the other way around. The left ventricle is predominantly dedicated to the coronary circulation and upper body, while the right ventricle is the main distributor to the lower part of the body, the placenta and the lungs.…”

Fetal echocardiography is not only used to detect congenital heart disease but also to monitor fetuses, especially those with different pathologies

“…The evaluation of the fetal heart function is most valuable in the third trimester of pregnancy, just before delivery [2]. If the fetus, especially with a congenital heart defect or functional anomalies, is monitored for several weeks using fetal echocardiography, and the last examination is performed shortly before delivery, the condition of the newborn in the first hours and days of extrauterine life can be reliably predicted [2,3]. Life-threatening congenital hydropericardium is an extremely rare condition and may be caused by infection, cardiac masses like tumors, and other chronic diseases, as mentioned by the authors.…”