Fetal Echocardiography

Fetal echocardiography is anultrasound testperformed during pregnancy to evaluate the heart of the unborn baby.

How does a fetal echocardiogram work?

• 一个称为换能器（类似于麦克风）的小探针放在母亲的腹部上，并以太高的频率发出超声波声波。
• 当将传感器放置在某些位置和某些角度时，声波在母亲和婴儿的皮肤上移动到婴儿的心脏组织，波浪从心脏结构中反弹（或“回声”）。
• 传感器拾取反射波并将其发送到计算机。计算机将回声解释为心脏壁和阀门的图像。

胎儿超声心动图可以帮助检测出生前的胎儿心脏异常，一旦婴儿出生，就可以更快地医疗或手术干预。这增加了患有严重婴儿的婴儿后生存的机会heart defects。

什么时候需要胎儿超声心动图？

Not all pregnant mothers need an echocardiogram. The standard prenatal ultrasound tests can give information about whether the fetal heart has developed with all four chambers and most pregnant women don’t need any further testing. Situations in which a fetal echocardiogram may be necessary include:

• if a sibling was born with a congenital (present at birth) heart defect
• 先天性心脏病的家族史（例如父母，阿姨，叔叔或祖父母）
• 胎儿发现的染色体或遗传异常
• 如果一个母亲采取了某些药物cause congenital heart defects, such as anti-seizure medications or prescription acne medications
• 如果妇女在怀孕期间滥用酒精或毒品
• if a woman has diabetes, phenylketonuria, or a connective tissue disease such as lupus
• 如果一个女人有风疹怀孕期间
• 常规产前超声已经发现了可能的心脏异常

胎儿超声心动图通常在妊娠的第二个学期进行大约18周。该测试有时会在怀孕期间使用经阴道超声进行（超声探针插入母亲的阴道中），但稍后将重复以确认任何发现。

How is a fetal echocardiogram performed?

A fetal echocardiogram is performed by a pediatric cardiologist or a maternal fetal specialist (also called a perinatologist) who is specially trained. The test may be done using an abdominal or transvaginal ultrasound.

• Abdominal ultrasound - In an abdominal ultrasound, gel is applied to the abdomen and the ultrasound transducer glides over the gel on the abdomen to create the image.
• 经阴道超声 - 在经阴道超声波中，将较小的超声传感器插入阴道中，并靠在阴道后部以创建图像。经阴道超声比腹部超声产生更清晰的图像，并且在怀孕初期最常使用。

During the test, the transducer probe will be moved around to obtain images of different locations and structures of the fetal heart. Techniques sometimes used to obtain detailed information about the fetal heart include:

• 2-D（二维）超声心动图 - 该技术用于“查看”心脏结构的实际结构和运动。在监视器上显示圆锥形的2D回声视图，可以观察到心脏结构的实时运动。这使医生能够看到并评估工作中的各种心脏结构。
• 多普勒超声心动图 - 该多普勒技术用于测量和评估通过心脏腔室和瓣膜的血流。每次节拍中抽出的血液量表明心脏的功能。同样，多普勒可以检测到心脏内部的血液流动异常，这可能表明诸如心脏腔室之间的开口，一个或多个心脏四个瓣膜中的一个或多个问题或心脏壁上的问题。
• Color Doppler - Color Doppler is an enhanced form of Doppler echocardiography. With color Doppler, different colors are used to designate the direction of blood flow. This simplifies the interpretation of the Doppler images.