The Diagnostic Accuracy of Automated Fetal Heart Echocardiography by Five Dimensional Compared to Two-Dimensional Ultrasound in the Second Trimester of Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) method by Five-Dimensional Ultrasound in automated fetal heart examination to conventional fetal heart examination by Two-Dimensional ultrasound in second trimester pregnancy. Methods: 90 normal singleton pregnancies at the second trimester were enrolled in this prospective study. Fetal heart was examined by Two-Dimensional Ultrasound (2D US) and Five-Dimensional Ultrasound (FINE). Paired numerical data were compared using the paired samples t test. Inter-method agreement for the rating of the quality of cardiac views by 2D US or 5D US was assessed by calculation of the prevalence-adjusted and bias-adjusted kappa coefficient (PABAK). Results: There was no statistical significant difference between fetal heart echocardiography assessment using 2DUS or 5DUS(FINE) (p-value > 0.05). The overall inter-method agreement between 2D US and 5D US was 0.92. The difference in % of satisfactory views between 2D and 5D US was 1.73%, (95% CI -0.5% to 3.33%) (P-value = 0.144). Conclusion: Our findings indicate the accuracy of 5DUS (FINE) echocardiography in evaluation of normal heart in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Maximal Reduction of STIC Acquisition Time for Volumetric Assessment of the Fetal Heart—Benefits and Limitations of Semiautomatic Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) Static Mode

“…Moreover, other groups have demonstrated that FINE works well in generating three specific abnormal cardiac views in cases of fetal D-transposition of the great arteries [ 35 ]. This is comparable in accuracy to conventional 2D fetal cardiac examination in normal second trimester fetuses with a significant reduction in examination time [ 36 ].…”

Application of Semiautomatic Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) in Twin Pregnancies: Half the Work or Twice the Effort?

“…In cases of CHD, FINE showed a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 93% [ 31 ]. Other groups have demonstrated that FINE works well in cases of fetal D-transposition of the great arteries [ 32 ] and works as well as traditional 2D fetal echocardiography with a significantly lower investigation time [ 33 ]. Our data indicated the applicability of FINE in different states of investigator experience [ 30 ] and in inconvenient fetal spine positions [ 34 ].…”